Adolescents' gendered portrayals of occupations in the field of Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract

This study tackled secondary students’ gender-stereotyped portrayals of ICT occupations, together with the use of gender references associated with these occupations. Likewise, the existence of gender differences was also examined. 443 boys and 457 girls (mean age 15 years; S.D.= 0.65) from Catalonia (Spain) participated in the study. A content analysis of responses to one open ended question on ICT occupations was performed that suggested that there were gender differences in students’ perceptions of ICT occupations. Contrary to expectations, non-masculine references about ICT occupations were more highly reported than masculine references. However, young females were more likely to offer non-masculine references to occupations where ICT is the tool rather than the object of their work. In contrast, young males were more likely to offer masculine references to occupations involving the design and production of ICT products and services. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.