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April 24, 2000
Technology

Report: Women lag in tech skills because tech learning is boring

AAUW A new study by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation finds women are closed off from high-paying technology jobs because they lack the skills needed for those jobs, Wired magazine reports.

The main reason women aren't as proficient with technology as they could be is because they find computers, video games and programming classes uninspiring and dull, the "Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age" study finds.

"They are not so much phobic, but are disenchanted," AAUW Research Director Pamela Haage told the magazine.

Statistics reveal women make up only 20 percent of information technology professionals and only 17 percent of computer science students. They also receive less than 28 percent of all computer science degrees completed in the U.S., the foundation reports.

The two-year study also suggests that educators may be at least partially to blame. It recommends teachers change their styles to attract girls to computers at an early age, and teach older girls and young women more sophisticated programs such as PowerPoint and HTML coding, instead of a traditional emphasis on word processing.

"We don't need 'pink' software. We need better software," Haage told the magazine.

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,35654,00.html



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