Gender bias defined. Gayle Beland's computer-based women's history class is technically open to boys, but she doesn't really expect them to take it. We're going to see if that helps them to go into math and science and computers. The teachers behind the programs share a concern that girls could miss out on educational and career opportunities if they aren't encouraged to study computers.
Boys dominate most elective computer classes.
For each of the past three years, girls made up only 12 percent of the students who took the AB-level Advanced Placement computer science exam, which tests students who have taken a full year of computer science. It's not just hacking for hacking's sake. It's computing to do medicine, or art, or science. Washington Middle School in Olympia, Wash., is using this approach with a class that combines technology skills with study of issues seen as particularly interesting to adolescent girls, such as nutrition, eating disorders, career exploration, and women's self-defense. The students analyze the World Wide Web sites of companies that make products for girls their age, and send the companies e-mail messages offering their critiques.