Gender, Social Interactions and Interests of Characters Illustrated in Scratch and Python Programming Books for ChildrenK12Global
From an early age, girls may opt out of Computer Science (CS) for not fitting the CS stereotypes of being male, asocial and technology-oriented. These stereotypes might be strengthened by children’s books on programming, but little is known about this. Therefore, this paper explores the gender, social interactions and interests of characters illustrated in ten popular extracurricular Scratch and Python children’s books. We found more masculine than feminine characters in all but one book. Furthermore, nearly half of the characters are illustrated alone, and 15% are interested in computers & robots. Over two-thirds of the characters fit at least one stereotypical trait. With this paper, we aim to create awareness of stereotypes in CS books among creators, publishers and buyers. Making and using more inclusive CS materials will help close the gender gap.
Sat 23 MarDisplayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change
10:45 - 12:00 | K12 - Elementary SchoolPapers at Meeting Room D135 Chair(s): Jean Salac University of Washington, Seattle | ||
10:45 25mTalk | Gender, Social Interactions and Interests of Characters Illustrated in Scratch and Python Programming Books for ChildrenK12Global Papers Shirley de Wit Delft University of Technology, Felienne Hermans Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Marcus Specht Delft University of Technology, Efthimia Aivaloglou Delft University of Technology DOI | ||
11:10 25mTalk | Novel insights into elementary girls’ experiences in physiological computingK12 Papers Feiya Luo University of Alabama, Ruohan Liu University of Virginia, Idowu David Awoyemi University of Alabama, Chris Crawford University of Alabama, Fatema Nasrin University of Alabama DOI | ||
11:35 25mTalk | Making Abstraction Concrete in the Elementary ClassroomK12 Papers Eping Hung Southern Oregon University, Maggie Vanderberg Southern Oregon University, Gladys Krause William & Mary, Eva Skuratowicz Southern Oregon University DOI |