GENDER AND SCRATCH: EXPLORING SUPPORT FOR ONLINE GENDERED SETTINGS

GENDER AND SCRATCH: EXPLORING SUPPORT FOR ONLINE GENDERED SETTINGS

ABSTRACT

Researchers who have investigated gender differences within STEM fields have produced a significant body of literature, primarily focused on assessing and understanding the inequalities that women face when entering these fields. The computer information science (CIS) field is a subfield within STEM that has seen a continuous decrease in participation and retention of women (Wang, Hong, Ravitz, & Ivory, 2015). Some of the influential factors behind this continuous decline include gender differences in self-efficacy, social encouragement, the CS environment, stereotypes and academic exposure (Beyer, Rynes, Perrault, Hay, & Haller, 2003; Cheryan, Plaut, Davies, & Steele, 2009; Rosson, Carroll, & Sinha, 2011). With respect to CIS introductory education, middle school children are commonly identified as a desirable age group, because early introduction to the CIS ideas might help to combat some of the problematic factors (i.e., before the impacts become too entrenched; Armoni, Meerbaum-Salant, & Ben-Ari, 2015; Carter, 2006). However, while many researchers have explored gender differences in CIS education among middle school students, little has been done to understand the nature of such factors as part of an online environment. In this study, I present a qualitative analysis of student discussions within the Scratch programming community. The analysis examines comments that are posted in forums that are marked with varying gender cues. The research objective was to determine whether factors such as self-efficacy, social encouragement and stereotyped references are apparent in boys’ and girls’ discussions about their Scratch projects, and if so what implications they may have for the children’s online learning experiences.

 

Chapter 1.

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the history of computing, women have been given a societal image that excludes them from participating in the computer information science (CIS) fields, with their participation going from 37% in the mid-1980’s to 18% in 2011 (National Center of Education Statistics, 2012). As a result, many researchers  have sought to identify the underlying reasons for women’s low participation and retention rates in CIS (Cheryan, Master, & Meltzoff, 2015; Gürer & Camp, 2002; Meelissen & Drent, 2008; Nesiba et al., 2015). Currently, these research efforts have identified a number of factors that seem to inhibit women’s engagement in CISrelated education and work; low self-efficacy, negative stereotypes, the male-dominated culture of CIS environments; relatively sparse support by friends, family and teachers, poor attitudes about the nature of computing; and a lack of role models (Cheryan et al., 2009; Denner, 2011; Meelissen & Drent, 2008; Robinson & Pérez-quiñones, 2014; Rosson et al., 2011; Varma, 2007).

When battling negative attitudes and stereotypes, educators and researchers have focused on girls and boys of middle school age (11-13 years old). Studies have shown that young people begin to form misconceptions of CIS at this stage of development when they are transitioning from child to teenager (Armoni et al., 2015; Carter, 2006). One implication is that if educators introduce CIS topics to middle school students in an effective way, the learners might enjoy a positive experience that can combat societal stereotypes before they are encountered, thereby promoting a positive attitude toward continuing engagement in CIS activities. Common examples of this approach are research projects that host after school programs (for boys and girls, or sometimes for one gender only; Denner, Werner, & Ortiz, 2012; Gürer & Camp, 2002; Robinson & Pérez-quiñones, 2014), or that inject computing concepts into other major subjects (e.g., introducing multimedia animation tools as part of English or other language courses; Carbonaro, Szafron, Cutumisu, & Schaeffer, 2010).

A less explored approach to introducing young people to CIS involves the more selfdirected learning that a middle schooler might engage in using accessible online resources. The Scratch language and community (http://scratch.mit.edu) is a popular example of such a resource. A few studies have begun to explore what and how boys and girls learn computing concepts using Scratch, but the study of gender differences within this or other online contexts (e.g., AgentSheets, http://www.agentsheets.com) is still relatively unexplored.

The current thesis project begins with the observation that the Scratch online community contains a rich body of content that may reveal differences in how programming novices (both boys and girls) interact with, react to, and potentially support one another online. The study will explore this opportunity by analyzing the level and nature of support, as well as other factors that may influence the experiences that boys and girls receive towards their computing goals in an online environment. Because Scratch tends to attract “programmers” at the middle school age, it should be a particularly useful source of insight about the gender-related attitudes and social behavior that this age group brings to their early programming experiences.

GENDER AND SCRATCH: EXPLORING SUPPORT FOR ONLINE GENDERED SETTINGS

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