Does Jane Compute?: Preserving Our Daughters' Place in the Cyber Revolution (Paperback)

The root of this problem should be sought, Furger says, at home. Parents tend to "discourage" girls from using the computer. Many girls have brothers who use the computer almost all the time thus denying their sisters the access, and parents, in most cases, do not even notice this. Furthermore, in those families who have no computer, boys always somehow "manage to figure out a way to gain access." Unlike boys who think of a computer as a toy, girls regard the computer as a tool. Also, girls are more afraid to explore; they are afraid something will go wrong if they push the wrong button.

"Girls frequently cite their mother as the most influential person in their lives," Furger writes. This is another very good point she brings out. Many girls, in their childhood, tend to identify with their mother, and what happens is, since they see their mother behind the computer only on rare occasions, when there is a specific task to be done, they develop the same approach toward the computer. Also, in schools, teachers mostly don't notice the girls' disinterest and boys' enthusiasm when the project or anything else is to be done on the computer.

Not only at home are girls presented with the picture that the computers are part of the guys' world, the computer games market is giving out the same message. Until recently, there was no games designed specifically for the girls at all.

Furger then gives a thorough analysis of a number of attempts of different schools, and other organizations throughout the country, to spark girls' interest in computers. Most of these attempts were successful and instructors realized that girls do show an interest in computers, only they are interested in different things. She also interviewed a number of girls who like to browse the Internet, who regularly participate in chat rooms, and who created their own web pages. As it turns out, girls too are eager to surf the net and create all those cool presentations on the computer, they just needed somebody to introduce them to all these things.

Overall, this is a very insightful and enlightening book. Furger recognized the potential problem that lies in the fact that the computer science is still predominantly male oriented. However, there are more and more girls who are becoming interested in computers as well and would like to pursue the career in computer science. Using simple and direct language, Furger tells us what should we do in order to prevent the stressful situations that surely await these girls if they enter the college with non-sufficient computer skills.

Furger points to a number of problems that cause girls to fall behind in the increasingly networked society. Some of these include lack of female-oriented software, encouragement from male educators to obtain computer skills, and the growing gender gap. Young girls are affected through the gender gap due to a lack of career paths available to them and very few opportunities in the academic setting. There are also other areas that affect girls and their computer time that should not be ignored either.

At home, if they have siblings, there is a competition for computer usage. Boys usually win, and maintain control of home computers. So home computer time for girls is very unlikely to happen. This leads to the next problem, most girls that use computers find that there is a problem of female related programs. There are numerous programs aimed at boys, while there is a growing deficiency of software aimed at young girls.

However, all is not lost. Furger does offer many suggestions as to ways to change the current computer literacy trend. Her book is a valuable tool for parents, educators and software companies. It can help aid the creation of more programs for girls, help teachers to bolster the proficiency of young girls, and also help parents work with their daughters to find worthwhile programs to use.