Reasons why female students choose to study senior IT or not

Research has shown that girls do not participate as much as boys in Information Technology (IT) in the senior years of high school. Despite research in the 1990S which identified the under-representation of girls in IT, the same pattern still continues. In additian, the complex reasons for this gender divide, and how to counter it, remain unclear. This case study ofasingle secondary school further informs the growing body ofresearch literature by reporting on the experiences and opinions of female students who did and did not choose to study seniar IT. The participant responses were considered as a whole and related ta the wider research and policy literature. The findings identify a number ofreasons for non-participation including the "geeky" image of IT, lack ofconfidence, and lack of female role models. Other, more complex reasons are discussed along with suggestions far future research.