But Banneker principal Esther Richey said society still tends to cast boys as technologically capable more than girls. Ruth Michalecki, vice chairman of the International Communications Association's board of directors and director of telecommunications at the University of Nebraska, said these challenges are what girls need from early in their lives. This perception is what needs to change, many Kansas City area women say. Hinkle, who is helping women-owned businesses market their products and eventually sell them online, said many women have been slow to embrace the online medium. When women go online, they tend to approach it differently than men.
Women use it as a tool for research.
But they tend to get what they need and then sign off, while men stay online and take time to be entertained. But things are changing. Women are having to become familiar with the Internet for their jobs. And often women are becoming familiar with computers through their children. Caroline Braley, director of research and development at the Internet Learning Center, said women have many opportunities online.