Abstract
The paper explores motivational and cognitive effects of more neutral or androgynous-looking characters versus more feminine-looking female and masculine-looking male characters. A user study involving 158 students, aged 17-19, encountering four virtual characters, visually manipulated to represent gender stereotypicality versus androgyny, is presented. On the one hand we explored students’ attitudes towards the different characters as seen in how they rank them as preferred presenters and articulate their arguments about the characters. On the other hand we looked for patterns as to which character(s) influence female and male students most positively with respect to their attitude towards a university level computer engineering program. Results from the study are presented and discussed. We conclude with pointing towards future research within the area.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | [Host publication title missing] |
| Publisher | GLIT - Research Network |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |
| Event | Symposium on Gender, Learning and IT, organized by GLIT - Research Network, 2007 - Helsingborg, Helsingborg, Sweden Duration: 2007 Aug 23 → 2007 Aug 25 |
Conference
| Conference | Symposium on Gender, Learning and IT, organized by GLIT - Research Network, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Sweden |
| City | Helsingborg |
| Period | 2007/08/23 → 2007/08/25 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Psychology (excluding Applied Psychology)
- Educational Sciences
Free keywords
- masculinity
- androgynities
- educational choice
- computer engineering
- virtual characters
- gender
- femininity
- visual design
- SoTL