Communications of the ACM
Most Tv Computer Scientists Are Still White Men. Google Wants to Change That
Search engine giant Google is urging Hollywood to diversify the gender and ethnicity of computer scientists portrayed in TV and film.
Credit: Google
Google is urging Hollywood to diversify the gender and ethnicity of computer scientists appearing on TV and film to combat a preponderance of geeky white males portraying those roles, as indicated by a new study from the University of Southern California (USC).
Google's Daraiha Greene says the reinforcement of this stereotype discourages underrepresented groups from pursuing computer science (CS) careers.
Google wants to demonstrate coding as a skill attainable to all by consulting with content creators on CS-related storylines for TV programs.
There are indications of progress, with the USC study estimating almost 25% of the characters engaged in CS in shows that worked with Google were female, while none of the characters engaged in CS in a matched sample of content were female.
Google also notes a new study commissioned and paid for by the search engine giant found girls who watched the first season of the Google YouTube series "Hyperlinked" are 11% more likely to be interested in CS careers than non-viewers.
From USA Today
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2017 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found