Gender Effects in the Stereotyping of those with Different Kinds of Computing Experience

Stereotypes of male and female target figures who had experience of either computer programming, word processing or computer games were investigated. Male and female undergraduate respondents were asked to rate them as portrayed in brief descriptions, on the sixteen personality attributes previously used by Siann, Durndell, Macleod, and Glissov in an investigation of stereotypes of male and female computer science students [1]. As found previously, there was no evidence of negative stereotyping: few differences were found between the male and female target figures, and the pattern of ratings was similar for the three computer uses. The results indicated however, that irrespective of the sex of the target figure, stereotyping of the three uses differed according to the sex of the respondent. Females gave higher ratings on attributes reflecting autonomy and congeniality to the figures with programming experience, while males gave these the lowest ratings on the same attributes. The relationship between this finding, the previous computing experience of the males and possible future implications is discussed.