Gender Equality in ICT Education

Is ICT somehow natural for men, and unnatural for women? Are women underrepresented in ICT professions? Does ICT education harm women? These and similar questions buzzle many. The cornerstones for any profession are set at the education phase, in different education institutions and in the curricula they follow. Gender roles and models accepted in early education will have a long tail paving the way for maybe the whole professional career of an individual. If changes in gender roles in any profession are looked for, professional education is a good place to start with. At the same time, it must be remembered and studied, if gender roles towards ICT are already formulated at the basic education. This article performs a literature review on the gender equality issues in ICT education. The questions presented above are scrutinized especially from the viewpoint of ICT education. There is a severe search for any theoretical explanations why ICT should be male-oriented. At the end, reasons for women to be better ICT workers than men seem to be abundant, especially in less academic literature.