webinar "ict learning projects screened from a gender point of view"

This project has been funded with the support of the

Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union

"ICT learning

Projects screened

from a gender

point of view"

WEBINAR

Gender & Equality workgroup

20 June 2014



With the collaboration of:

Organized by:





Unite IT

e-inclusion network

Laurence Leseigneur (Interface3)





UniteIT

Gender & Equality

workgroup

Lize De Clercq

(researcher contracted by Interface3)



www.unite-it.eu/group/gender-equality





WEBINAR

Agenda



Current state of the GENDER GAP in ICT in Europe

WHY are so few girls attracted to study IT?

WHAT can be done to attract more girls into IT?

Gender consulting of an ICT LEARNING project

for disadvantaged youth (Spain)

Gender consulting of an ICT CAREER AWARENESS

RAISING project for high school students (Poland)

BEST PRACTICE exchange with Interface3 (Belgium)

Towards a new European funded project

“SHE-GEEKS EUROPE”





Gender & IT gap

in Europe

Lize De Clercq




Gender gap at the level of

ICT usage



15% more men appear to have higher

computer skills then women

Source: EU Community Survey on ICT Usage, 2011



by 2015 90% of jobs will require

at least basic computer skills

Photo Credit: Cap Gemini




higher education



Women represent only 23% of Europeans

with a bachelor degree in ICT-related fields

Photo Credit: Nesta



Forecast of over 900.000 computing

vacancies by 2020

Source: Empirica, 2013




IT workforce



Women hold only 15%

of ICT specialist occupations

Source: OECD, 2009





WHY are so few girls

attracted to study IT?

Lize De Clercq




Societal belief of computing as masculine

Photo Credit: “The Social Network” by David Fincherhttp://obtusity.blogspot.com.es/2011/01/social-networks-stance-on-women.html

http://obtusity.blogspot.com.es/2011/01/social-networks-stance-on-women.html



Boys DO NOT have an “innate” talent or

“flair” for computing

Source: Infographic “How girls hold themselves back from pursuing computer science” http://www.pinterest.com/pin/404690716488683410

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/404690716488683410



What are stereotypes?

POSTIVE

• Germans are ‘hard working people’

• Asian students are ‘good at math’

NEGATIVE

• French are ‘chauvinists’

• African Americans are ‘lessintelligent’

brain-enforced categorical thinking

DESCRIBE the characteristics of a group

lead us to think all members of a group are similar

to each other



GENDER stereotypes about technology

are NEGATIVE for females

Source: XKCDhttp://www.pinterest.com/pin/404690716488684616




GENDER stereotypes are PRESCRIBING

boys are (and should be!)…

• ‘adventurous’

• ‘sure of themselves’

• ‘brave’

• ‘independent’

• ‘good mechanics’

girls are (and should be!)…

• ‘caring’

• ‘good nurses’

• ‘sensitive’

• ‘emotional’

• ‘social’



and computing……is about machines &

mathematics …has an image problem

Photo Credit: Wilkinson Photo Credit: Little Miss Geek





WHAT can be done

to attract more girls

into studying IT?Lize De Clercq




Initial Professional Qualification Program (PQPI)

for Assistant of Computer & Network

Maintenance Technician

Case Study 1 (Spain)





Presentation &

Gender consultation of the

“PQPI” Project

Lize De Clercq


together with

Alexandra Bozonet (TEB)



Photo Credit: TEB Youth Foundation

school drop-outs aged 16-21

groups of 10 to 14 students

majority from disadvantaged communities

large majority of students are male

900 hours (50% technology, 20% internship, 30%

general knowledge)

large majority of technology teachers are male

Project description



Source: TEB Youth Foundation, 2012 http://youtu.be/vFMLL1Eoq2w

http://youtu.be/vFMLL1Eoq2w



Use engaging & social group

recruitment techniques

Gender recommendation 1:




organize a separate “recruitment” workshop that

connects computing to interests girls already have

(see video examples)

actively recruit girls – don’t wait for them to come

recruit from other courses with high percentages of

females

personally invite girls that could be interested but

might not think of enrolling

invite groups of girls that already know each other

Proven recruitment techniques



E-textiles workshop

Source: DYN Digital Divas (US), 2013 http://youtu.be/HCX3ReOekJ4

http://youtu.be/HCX3ReOekJ4



Game Design workshop

Source: DIY Girls (US), 2013 http://youtu.be/thQHKRGT8vs

http://youtu.be/thQHKRGT8vs



App Development workshop

Source: Black Girls Code(US), 2013 http://youtu.be/Iw3X6hZp630

http://youtu.be/Iw3X6hZp630



Provide role models and peer mentorship





showcase exciting things other adolescent girls

are doing with computing

invite peers as mentors

invite role models that are relatable to the girls

as speakers

showcase inspiring stories of what women,

as similar to the girls as possible, have

accomplished

Providing role models



Pay attention to unconscious biases

in student-student interactions.




Make sure girls & boys have equal access

to the more technical roles




Be on the lookout for unconscious biases

in teacher-student interactions




Don’t confuse prior experience with ability

Photo Credit: Center for Innovative Public Health ResearchSource: Infographic “Our Future Demands STEM”





Teacher: “The girls are not interested

in the black screen, they don’t like it”




Improve the relevancy of the curriculum





connect the curriculum to previous interests &

knowledge

connect the curriculum to solving real-life problems

show how computing can solve social problems &

improve people’s lives

incorporate engaging pedagogies:

hands-on, collaborative work, working towards a final

product, experiential learning

include non-wired activities to introduce

computational thinking

Proven methodologies



Consider single-sex education/workshops





increased comfort

increased confidence

increased learning

increased peer support

increased future intentions

Benefits

of single-sex education





Best Practice exchange

with Interface3 (Belgium)

Elena Lanzoni (Interface3)



About Interface3:

It’s a vocational training center created in 1984, within the framework of equal opportunities for women and men.

What do we do? • 10 trainings’ programs leading to ICT jobs and to more

“typical female job” (account assistant, commercial assistant, import-export assistant, etc.

• Projects to bridge the digital divide in Belgium• European projects (Interface3 is a telecentre-europe

member since its creation)

Interface3



Single sex ICT trainings



Since 1984, Interface3 organize trainings for women job seekers in ICT jobs.

4 ICT trainings are organized, leading to the following functions:

- Helpdesk agent

- Network administrator

- Webmaster

- Web application developer

…Each training is organized once a year for groups of 15 students.




A training coordinator follows each trainee during the year

These trainings:• are fulltime classes (7 hours/day) and last about a year• end up by a 6 weeks internship in a company • are followed by a series of certifying exams on acquired competencies

(ITLI, .NET, Active Directory, Cisco.)

Why job seekers?• IT functions are hit by disaffection from young people

• It produces a shortage of professionals in this vital sector

• Women in career transition are an important unexploited “labour source”




Who are these women?Helpdesk agent: • Lower educated women (who did not finish secondary school)

Network administrator, Webmaster and Web application developer:• Medium to high educated women (secondary school or university degree)

who want to change careers

How do we attract them to ICT? • A target-oriented communication: images of women in ICT, a different

style in technical matters explanations, information sessions about ICT from a daily life point of view

• A role-model based learning: female trainers in ICT subjects, students and former students meetings

• Trainings’ effectiveness: 70% find a job in ICT




« Link to the Future »

Case Study 2 (Poland)





Presentation of the

“Link to the Future”

Project

Mariusz Boguszewski &

Elzbieta Dydak (FRSI)



Source: FRSI, 2014 http://youtu.be/Hmx48XxFXlI

http://youtu.be/Hmx48XxFXlI



The young inspirethe young!



LINK TO THE FUTURE

1 ed. October 2012 – March 2013 2 ed. October 2013 – March 2014



The purpose of the “Link to the Future. Youth. Internet. Career” project is to support young people from small localities in planning their professional future in a broad and non-standard manner, taking into account the development of information society and knowledge-based economy.

PATRONAGE:



Welcome(5 min.)

Warm-uo„I could be..."

(10 min.)

Professional -speech

(20 min.)

Professional –discussion(10 min.)

Break(10 min.)

Quiz on labormarket

(20 min.)

Exercise„What isthe success?"

(10 min.)

Summanry „I was inspired by..."

(10 min.)

Evaluation questionnaire

(5 min.)

2 hours

15-30 participants



Warm-up: future professions



Young professional: speech and discussion



Quiz on current situation on labor market and trends



Exercise: „What is the success?”



Summary: „I was inspired by…”



Young professionals – ICT-related professions

• mobile application developer

• computer graphics specialist methodologist at an e-learning company

• PR specialist in social media

• video manager

• website administrator



RESULTS OF THE PROJECT



21,275 participants

747 meetings with young professionals

99% positive marks of participants

84% participants answered the meeting can helpthem to choose their career path

64% increased their interest in ICT

Results of the project





Gender consultation of the

“Link to the Future”

Project

Lize De Clercq




Increase awareness raising

on ICT-specialist occupations

(Gender) recommendation 1:



Source: Widening Women's Work in Information and Communication Technology, 2009



Photo Credit: Cap Gemini

Concentrate on profiles that demand

new (and higher) computing skills



ICT workforce in 2012: 7,4 million people

(3.4% of European workforce)

Source: Empirica 2013



Trend towards higher level

of computing & business skills

Source: Empirica, 2013



Increase female role models

in ICT-specialist occupations

that demand high computing skills




The professionals who had the greatest number of meetings were:

Jakub Jakubowski – computer

graphic artist, book and press

designer, culture animator and

barista

Łukasz Pieter – music journalist,

founder of damycimuzyke.pl

start-up

Michał Rysiek Woźniak –

IT security expert, social activist

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Professionals - number of meetings


Mobile developer, ui/ux designer

Telecommunications engineer, entrepreneur,

winner of an General Electric scholarship

Entrepreneur, project manager

in a software company

Computer network administrator, programmer, co-founder of an

organization of internet promotion

Mobile technology specialist, editor, presenter & blogger

Server administrator, entrepreneur & blogger



Psychologist, manager & coach at a learning programming using

programmable LEGO

Computer graphic artist, designer, graphics, computer programmer,

computer science graduate and photographer

e-marketing & online communication expert, project coordinator, Chief

Knowledge Officer of Geek Girls Carrots

PR & online marketing specialist

Recruitment & marketing specialist at a software company

Lawyer using electronic databases in her work



Allocate speakers instead

of leaving the choice to local organizers




Upon the choice of local organizers, male role

models got far more exposure than female ones





barista



start-up



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35




2 of the top 3 role models exposed

were male ICT-specialists





barista



start-up



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35




Add a workshop to interrupt stereotypical thinking

on gender & IT





explain how stereotypes work

expand on stereotypical ideas high school might already

embraced about professions – especially regarding

computing professions

remind students that technical ability is not ‘innate’ but

are like muscles that can develop over time

make students aware about the phenomenon of

stereotype threat

analyze media representations for assumptions and biases

related to gender & computing

Take this opportunity to massively

debunk stereotypes!





Best Practice exchange

with Interface3 (Belgium)

Elena Lanzoni &

Laurence Leseigneur (Interface3)



Girls Day Boys Day projectObjective: Help pupils make their studies and careers choice based on theirPassions , interests, abilities regardless of gender stereotypes or what society or parents expect from them.

Project description:

2 hours workshops organised in Brussels secondary schools (13-14 years’ oldpupils)- Drawing session- Quizzes- Discussions- Film with professional testimonials

Numbers: 10 schools 29 classes 23 witnesses More than 600 pupils



Girls Day Boys Day project



Source: OECD, 2009

Be a one-day ICT professional



Since 2007 Interface3 has led "Be a one-day ICT professional " targeting secondary schools students (both girls and boys)

The Project consists of: • A 3 hours lesson at school :

– 1 hour to discover the diversity of professional profiles in ICT – 2 hours workshops to experiment coding

• A 3 hours meeting with ICT professionals to have a better understanding of what ICT jobs mean, beyond clichés




The lessons at school:

– Trainers use multimedia tools (videos, quiz, games…) to show how ICT has been changing our lives since the 80’s.

– Trainers use vivid examples from daily life (Facebook) to explain ICT functions

– Trainers stimulate students thinking on stereotypes in ICT professions:

• Pupils draw an ICT professional,

• Drawings are pinned to the blackboard and trainers lead a debate to rise awareness on common shared stereotypes about ICT jobs and professionals.




The lessons at school:

– The two hours workshop allow pupils to discover the link between the code (html/ css / javascript) and the “interface” (the web page they make at the end of the workshop, containing photos, videos, texts etc.)




The meeting with professionals:

– A pool of 80 ICT companies or ICT departments participate in the project;

– They are in charge of the organization of meetings:

• Find the right people amongst their staff (danger: confirm the stereotype), both female and male professionals: database managers, network administrators, developers, ICT technicians etc.

• Define and develop the program keeping in mind the age of pupils.




Trends and figures:

• 174 lessons in 69 schools

• 3,120 students

• 80 companies hosted 87 visits of their ICT departments






Towards a new European

funded project

“SHE-GEEKS EUROPE”

(worktitle)



We will engage in writing a bid proposal

during 2014-2015, to start activity in 2016

She-Geeks Europe (worktitle)



www.pinterest.com/shegeekseu

http://www.pinterest.com/shegeekseu



Collaborative bookmarking

atwww.kippt.com/shegeekseu

http://www.kippt.com/shegeekseu





Thanks a lot for your

attention!

www.unite-it.eu/group/gender-equality

webinar "ict learning projects screened from a gender point of view"

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