A new methodology, an old story? Gender differences in the “draw-a-computer-user” test

Abstract

Gender differences in computer-related attitudes have been reported in school children of all ages. Females express more negative attitudes than males when asked to explicitly endorse attitude statements. This gender difference may be compounded by females expressing attitudes consistent with their psychological gender. This study uses an art-based methodology to assess the computer-related attitudes of 395 primary school children (aged 5 to JJ). A significant difference occurs in the gender drawn by the children. Whilst 30% of females draw males, only 4% of males draw females. Additionally, older females draw proportionally less smiling faces. These results are consistent with more traditional assessments of attitude which indicate that females' attitudes towards computers become more negative as they progress through the educational system. The art-based methodology also identified similar proportions of females holding negative attitudes as do more traditional assessments, suggesting ecological validity for the gender differences in computer attitudes. The implicationsfor computer-related education are discussed.

Exploring Children's Stereotypes Through Drawings: The Case of Musical Performance

“…This comparison shows a much weaker effect of gender stereotyping in the current data. Brosnan's (1999) study found that girls drew 30 percent of male computer users, which is a higher proportion than the opposite sex drawings from even the older girls in this study, whereas Colley et al. (2005) found that around 50 percent of the 9–11‐year‐old girls, of a similar age to the older girls in the present study, drew a male sportsperson.…”

“…In order to assess the degree of gender stereotyping present in the musician drawings, a comparison can be made with those obtained by Brosnan (1999) in a study using the ‘draw‐a‐computer user’ test with 5–11‐year‐olds and by Colley et al. (2005), who used the ‘draw‐a‐sportsperson’ test with 9–11 and 15–16‐year‐olds.…”

Images of self and others as computer users: the role of gender and experience

“…Prior research has shown that in the draw‐a‐person‐test, students are more likely to represent their own gender (Goodenough 1926). However, in the draw‐a‐scientist test (Chambers 1983) and the draw‐a‐computer‐user test (Brosnan 1999), it is reported that more male depictions are produced by both male and female students. Twenty‐one per cent of females depicted female computer users (60% depicted males and 19% were ambiguous) and 56% of males depicted male computer users (6% depicted females and 38% were ambiguous).…”

Age and Gender Differences in Young People's Perceptions of Sport Participants1

“…A different form of methodology, which has been used successfully in other domains (particularly perceptions of computers; Barba, 1990;Brosnan, 1999;Lage, 1991), involves asking children to draw individuals from the domain in question. Brosnan's use of the Draw a Computer User test with 5to 11 -year-olds found, in agreement with questionnaire-based tests, that users are perceived more often as male, especially by boys, and that girls show more negative affect toward computers (represented as fewer drawings with smiling faces) as they get older (Brosnan, 1999).…”