Abstract
African Americans, especially African American women, remain one of the most underrepresented groups in technology-based degrees and careers. However, little is known about whether gender differences permeate African American adolescents’ engagement in technology in earlier development, such as in middle and high school (ages 12–18). Drawing on an ecological and intersectional framework, we examined if African American male and female adolescents differed in technological engagement and what contextual factors affected their engagement. We hypothesized that parental encouragement would be associated with greater technological confidence in adolescents, which would be linked to more experiences with and interests in technology. Further, we investigated if these associations would vary by adolescents’ and parents’ gender. Survey data from 1041 African American parent-adolescent dyads highlighted that adolescents had less experience and interest with technical activities than with creative activities, especially among female adolescents. More parents encouraged adolescent sons but limited daughters to use technology, yet female adolescents reported greater technological confidence. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that adolescents’ technological confidence mediated the positive association between parental encouragement and adolescents’ technological engagement across all parent-adolescent dyads, but with some nuances. Our findings suggest that prospective gender studies and educational programs should consider the influences of parenting and gender on promoting African American adolescents’ technological involvement and confidence.
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Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1113020). We thank Victoria Rideout of VJR Consulting and Dr. Kevin Clark of George Mason University for their collaboration on the development, data collection, and initial analyses of this project. We are grateful for the expert advisory group: Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; David J. Johns, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans; Dr. Vikki Katz of Rutgers University; Dr. Allison Scott, who was at that time at the National Institutes of Health and is currently with the Kapor Center for Social Impact; Aaron Smith of the Pew Research Center; and Dr. S. Craig Watkins of the University of Texas at Austin. We appreciate all the African American families that participated in this project and contributed to our knowledge of how they use and learn technology in informal learning environments.
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Tao, C., Scott, K.A. & McCarthy, K.S. Do African American Male and Female Adolescents Differ in Technological Engagement?: The Effects of Parental Encouragement and Adolescent Technological Confidence. Sex Roles 83, 536–551 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01134-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01134-0