In almost all research investigating the effectiveness of intervention programs involving girls and IT, the value of the program was assessed immediately after the running of the program. While this approach can provide a perspective on the extent to which something has changed from the start to the end of an intervention program, it is not useful for determining if the impact is sustained over the longer term.
In order to assess the extent to which the Digital Divas program had effected a more sustained change in girls’ attitudes and motivation for studying IT or pursuing an IT career, focus groups were held with girls in four schools one or two years after they had experienced the program. Data were collected from 11 focus groups involving 33 girls. While we cannot draw any hard conclusions because of the limited number of girls who we were able to contact and invite
102
to participate in the focus groups, they do provide some insights into how sustained the lessons from Digital Divas were.
The girls were asked if they were now considering an IT career. Thirteen girls said they were, 12 said maybe, and five said no. Several girls mentioned that IT was part of most careers they would be doing. Some of the comments the girls made include:
Yeah, well, it is very interesting and usually, before Digital Divas, we would have thought, IT, no. I might go over and do something else.
Now, after it, we’ve gone, ‘Hey, that’s actually not a bad idea.’
I realised I really enjoyed doing the Digital Divas tasks and that’s where my interests were.
I thought I did and then I just realised it was definite that I was interested in that because I was just a bit interested before.
I’m considering it but I’m not sure if that’s going to be an actual possibility. I have an interest in IT and learning how to use computers and all that kind of stuff.
I’m not really sure yet. I like IT and stuff but since I was young I’ve wanted to be something, so I’ve still got that idea.
The answers the girls gave indicated that they continue to have a broader idea of what an IT career might be. Several mentioned specific aspects of IT work; four mentioned web design or graphic design, and another mentioned games design.
Maybe I’m thinking of doing digital designing, maybe getting into an advertising industry where I can use creativity to create adverts and stuff like that.
I think as well, potentially, I could … in the sense of incorporating the technology we have and the design element because I’m really interested in using different designs with website designing particularly and advertising and marketing and things like that.
I think Digital Divas opened up the possibilities of what maybe I could do because I wanted to do something with law before and I guess it’s
kind of opening up to something maybe to do with IT and law and privacy and everything.
I was thinking about something to do with forensic science, and the IT side of that.
Conclusion
There were a number of assumptions underpinning the design and im-plementation of the Digital Divas intervention program. The research data does provide evidence that the program was successful in a number of ways. For the entire sample of girls, the quantitative data revealed that the girls found the program materials interesting and their confidence with computers had either been enhanced or not changed (Assumption 1). By engaging with the Digital Divas program materials, they developed new skills, and as a consequence of their experiences some of the stereotypes had been challenged. In particular, their beliefs about girls’ capabilities with computers and place in the world of IT were reinforced (Assumption 2).
While there was clear evidence of greater awareness of the range of jobs associated with careers in the IT industry, the Digital Divas experience had not, as hoped, further stimulated interest in future studies of IT subjects or working in the computer world for the entire sample. The focus groups, however, revealed that the opposite was the case at the individual level, with many girls indicating that after the program careers in IT were certainly possibilities for them (Assumptions 3, 4, & 5). The effects of the Digital Divas program in the medium term were explored in the follow-up interviews with participating girls one to two years after being in Digital Divas. These girls were able to reflect positively on their experience and how their views had changed as a result. For many, future study or careers in IT were now a possibility (Assumption 7).
Early in the chapter, research on the pivotal role played by teachers in affecting students’ learning outcomes was presented. As discussed elsewhere in this book, the research team did not have control over which teacher was assigned to take the Digital Divas class in each school. It was assumed that each teacher would have appropriate computing skills, would be excited by the prospect of being involved in the program, and would hold positive views about girls and their capabilities with computers and potential to work in the IT field. These assumptions did not hold up for all teachers. We believe that this might partially explain the findings that were inconsistent with expectation.
104