The Socialization of Females

Sub-Question Four

Sub-question four asked, "What play experiences, if any, helped mold choices for participants to enter technological fields?" Responses indicated that for many participants the infusion of certain low-threat, high-challenge play activities into MST related classroom teaching methodologies, as well as in informal activities, often captured their interests, as well as motivated them to further pursue MST endeavors. For example, Judy grew up under the tutelage of a father who allowed her to play in his garage while he worked. "Play gave me opportunities to explore the properties and functions of many of the items (tools) without threat." Judy described learning to tinker and to build wooden trolleys, which she eventually sailed up and down the main street of town. She added, "A nonthreatening environment was absolutely essential to my creativity." Descriptions of similar activities by other participants reinforce research that maintained play is an activity which leads to other outcomes such as learning, and the process of unleashing an individual's creative potential (Pellegrini, 1995; Spolin, 1986).

The data also indicated that some informal computer learning activities took place within a low-threat, high-challenge play type environment, and these experiences often led the participants to become risk-takers, going further and further into technological aspects. For example, Sophie described being hired by the technical department of her college as a customer service representative because she was "nice." "But," she added,

They had a Prestel keyboard…and the keys represented different characters like x's, and slashes with a perpendicular line and things…and you could put those together to make pictures and animations. It was fun. I made things like a coffee cup with animated steam coming out of it. It made me feel like I had an aptitude for technical things. I was teaching myself. Later, they made me responsible for more and more (technical) things…gave me my first full time job.

For Sophie, as well as other participants, such experiences led to a major expansion in their cognitive growth. These encounters echo research which indicated that people are at their most "mindful," when they are at play, their senses are fully engaged, and their physical and mental powers at their highest (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

Other play activities that had a direct linkage to MST career path choices were found in tinkering activities and video game playing, especially problem solving, and puzzle oriented games. For example, Avery remarked that playing Mahjongg "sharpened my mind…looking at different options for things." However, the participants' attraction for puzzle type games, such as Tetris and Mahjongg, goes against research that depicts girls as not comfortable with video games which emphasize puzzles or involve visual and spatial tasks (Hi-D Girls, 1996). Again, this is a reminder that children are individuals, and their particular interests need to be addressed (Rieber, Smith & Noah, 1998).

Finally, in terms of play activities, the participants also indicated that other play venues such as team sports were especially helpful in learning attitudes or teaching them skills. These abilities included "how to be competitive," as well as "how to work cooperatively." The participants' comments parallel research that discusses team sports' complicated rules and strategies as learning avenues which prepare children for survival in work situations and social organizations (Lever, 1976; Mead, 1934).

Sub-Question Five

Sub-question five asked, "What educational experiences, if any, contributed to motivations for choosing technological careers?" As noted previously, teachers played a strong role in creating an environment that allowed the participants' interests in MST subjects to flourish. Likewise, learning situations that included low-threat, high-challenge play and cognitive activities were strong influences. For example, Judy described a grammar school class where the teacher helped students learn mathematical tables by encouraging them to make up rhymes and to sing them together as a class. She added, "It was a neat experience that was absolutely enchanting."

Hands-on applications and reality-based assignments were also high motivation factors. Germaine, for example, had an absolute passion for music. She remarked, "When I started to get hands-on experience using a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), I began to understand how the computer behaved, and I think that encouraged me to go on and learn some more." This desire for real world contexts and hands-on applications echoes many feminist educators' perspective of women's preferred learning styles. Such styles are characterized by the necessity of personal connection (Gilligan, 1982; Walkerdine, 1984). For example, Chodorow (1978) and Keller (1983) indicated that women need to establish a relationship between themselves and the object they are studying.

Finally, the academic computer environment itself, with a combination of science, technology, and software, emerged as a strong influence for why some participants choose MST career paths. For these women, the intellectual challenge of critical and abstract thinking within these environments was key. Rinky remarked, "You tend to abstract things to make things general so that they can be used to understand the relationships." Such comments illustrate constructivist theories that describe "learning as occurring through interactions with one's environment or culture" (Rieber, 1992, p.94).

Nonetheless, the attraction toward critical thinking on the part of some participants, and these women's avowed need to work in environments that encourage such thinking, reminds us of the necessity to avoid overgeneralizations—such as "males only" having a preference for controlled abstraction (Kenway & Modra, 1992). On the other hand, the degree to which many of these same women also employed reflective thinking parallels feminist theories that suggest women's predominant way of knowing is derived from a need to balance both subjective and objective strategies (Belenky et al.., 1986).