Gender and the geek factor : why don't women do IT?

There are flaws in the explanations presented in the ‘Women and Computing’ literature that the lack of role models and the inhospitable nature of the IT field are an explanation for poor female enrolments. There is a lack of analysis into why over twenty years of intervention programs are not improving the gender balance in this discipline. In this study, an analysis of Australian university enrolment data is used to compare computing and information systems participation to the disciplines of Law and Medicine. Questions are raised about the role that perceived status plays in determining career choices by young people, particularly the influence of the media in forming perceptions