Yet something turns them off to technology when it comes time to go to college. That something, say some researchers, has to do more with techno-culture that is, what's available to girls and how it's emphasized than with technology itself. Margaret Riel, associate director of the Center for Collaborative Research in Education at the University of California at Irvine, suggests that including digital technology in a broad range of classes, not just science and math, would attract more girls to the field. The Digital Classroom , Riel notes that recent research indicates that girls like to use multimedia technology for constructive, as well as analytic, purposes. She suggests finding ways of incorporating digital technology into English and art classes as one way of perhaps appealing to girls.
Experts point out that games are an important steppingstone for kids into the world of technology.
Students who play computer games tend to be more comfortable with the technology and more adept at using it. In addition they seem to be more interested in process than progress in exploration rather than simply racking up points. Yet the computer-games industry that consists mainly of men offers relatively few quality games for girls. One increasingly popular solution to this gender divide is single-sex technology education, which the AAUW endorses. Advocates of this approach point to studies that show that boys usually dominate discussions in science and technology classrooms.