![Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros
14
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Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1999). Creating contexts for learning and self-authorship:
Constructive developmental pedagogy. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University
Press.
Cohoon, J. M., Baylor, K. M., & Chen, L.-Y. (2003). Continuation to graduate school:
A look at computing departments. Charlottesville, VA: Curry School of Educa-
tion, University of Virginia.
D’Agostino, D. (2003. October 1). Where are all the women IT leaders?
Eweek. Retrieved September 29, 2006, from www.eweek.com/article2/
0,1759,1309599,00.asp
Gibson, S. (1997, October 6). The nonissue—gender in the IT field. PC Week,
14(42), p. 112.
Gurer, D., & Camp, T. (1998). Investigating the incredible shrinking pipeline for
women computer science. Retrieved June 9, 2006, from http://women.acm.org/
documents/finalreport.pdf
Huyer, S. (2003). Gender, ICT, and Education. Unpublished manuscript.
Huyer, S., Hafkin, N., Ertl, H., & Dryburgh, H. (2005). Women in the information
society. In G. Sciadis (Ed.), From the digital divide to digital opportunities: Mea-
suring infostates for development (pp. 135–196). Montreal: Orbicom.
Information Technology Association of America (2003). Building the 21st century
information technology workforce: Groups underrepresented in the IT workforce
[Task force report]. Retrieved October 10, 2005, from http://www.itaa.org/
workforce/studies.recruit.htm
Lee, A. C. K. (2003). Undergraduate students’ gender differences in IT skills and
attitudes. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(4), 488–500.
National Science Board. (2004). Science and engineering indicators 2004: Vol. 1
(Publication No. NSB 04-1). Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation. (1994). Women, minorities, and persons with dis-
abilities in science and engineering: 1994 (NSF Publication No. 94-333). Arling-
ton, VA: Author.
National Science Foundation. (2004). Women, minorities, and persons with dis-
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ton, VA: Author.
O’Brien, K. M., & Fassinger, R. E. (1993). A causal model of the career orienta-
tion and career choice of adolescent women. Journal of Counseling Psychology,
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tional Research, San Diego, CA.
Notes
1. While mathematics is foundational for all of the science, engineering, and
technology fields, women have reached parity in mathematics college degrees.
Therefore, we have chosen to concentrate on SET rather than on STEM.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1079768-250605074730-de3bba9a/85/Reconfiguring-The-Firewall-Recruiting-Women-To-Information-Technology-Across-Cultures-And-Continents-Carol-J-Burger-27-320.jpg)
![a ditch. He also surrounded Mount Janiculum with a wall"
(Dionysius, iii. 44).
Florus says: "He [Ancus Martius] encompassed the city with a wall."
Again: "What kind of a king was the architect Ancus? how fitted to
extend the city by means of a colony [Ostia], to unite it by a bridge
[the Sublicius], and secure it by a wall?"
"The Quiritian trench also—no inconsiderable defence to those parts,
which from their situation are of easy access—is a work of King
Ancus" (Livy, i. 33).
THIRD WALL—AGGERS OF SERVIUS TULLIUS.
These seem to have been commenced by Tarquinius Priscus, and
completed by Servius Tullius, and so called by his name.
"He [Tarquinius Priscus] was the first who built the walls of the city
[of which the structure was extemporary and mean] with stones,
regularly squared, each being a ton weight" (Dionysius, iii. 68).
Tarquinius (616 B.C.) "intended also to have surrounded the city with
a stone wall, but a war with the Sabines interrupted his designs"
(Livy, i. 36).
"He set about surrounding with a wall of stone those parts of the
city which he had not already fortified, which work had been
interrupted at the beginning by a war with the Sabines" (Livy, i. 38).
"He [Servius] surrounded the city with a rampart, trenches, and a
wall, and thus extended the Pomœrium," 578 B.C. (Livy, i. 44).
"As the Esquiline and Viminal Hills were both of easy access from
without, a deep trench was dug outside them, and the earth thrown
up on the inside, thus forming a terrace of six stadia in length along
the inner side of the trench. This terrace Servius faced with a wall,
flanked with towers, extending from the Colline to the Esquiline](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1079768-250605074730-de3bba9a/85/Reconfiguring-The-Firewall-Recruiting-Women-To-Information-Technology-Across-Cultures-And-Continents-Carol-J-Burger-68-320.jpg)
!["Tarquinius Superbus was particularly active in taking these
precautions, and employed a great number of workmen in
strengthening those parts of the city walls that lay next to the town
of Gabii, by widening the ditch, raising the walls, and increasing the
number of the towers" (Dionysius, iv. 54).
"On the eastern side it is bounded by the Agger of Tarquinius
Superbus, a work of surpassing grandeur; for he raised it so high as
to be on a level with the walls on the side on which the city lay most
exposed to attack from the neighbouring plains. On all the other
sides it has been fortified either with lofty walls or steep or
precipitous hills; but so it is that its buildings, increasing and
extending beyond all bounds, have now united many other cities to
it" (Pliny, iii. 9).
"After Camillus had driven out the Gauls, both the walls of the city
and the streets were rebuilt within a year" (Plutarch, "Cam." 32).
"The legions being brought to Rome, the remainder of the year was
spent in repairing the walls and the towers," 350 B.C. (Livy, vii. 20).
"They received a charge from the senate to strengthen the walls and
towers of the city," 217 B.C. (Livy, xxii. 8).
After the republic was firmly established, and the boundaries of the
state enlarged, the walls of the city became obsolete, and it was to
all intents and purposes an open city until the time of Aurelian.
"All the inhabited parts around it [the city], which are many and
large, are open, and without walls, and very much exposed to the
invasion of an enemy. And whoever considers these buildings, and
desires to examine the extent of Rome, will necessarily be misled,
for want of a certain boundary that might distinguish the spot to
which the city extends, and where it ends. So connected are the
buildings within the walls to those without, that they appear to a
spectator like a city of an immense extent" (Dionysius, iv. 13).
FOURTH WALL—THE WALL OF AURELIAN.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1079768-250605074730-de3bba9a/85/Reconfiguring-The-Firewall-Recruiting-Women-To-Information-Technology-Across-Cultures-And-Continents-Carol-J-Burger-70-320.jpg)
![From the time of Servius to Aurelian the city, though much enlarged,
had no new wall, though the boundaries had been extended. To
continue our last quotation from Dionysius, who died 7 B.C., this is
evident.
"But if any one is desirous to measure the circumference of it by the
wall—which, though hard to be discovered, by reason of the
buildings that surround it in many places, yet preserves in several
parts of it some traces of the ancient structure—and to compare it
with the circumference of the city of Athens, the circuit of Rome will
not appear much greater than that of the other" (Dionysius, iv. 13).
The Pomœrium, or city bounds, was enlarged, as we know, by
several emperors, some of their cippi, or boundary-stones, being still
in situ; but there was no wall. Where the roads crossed the line of
the Pomœrium, gates were built, between which there were no
walls. The Romans considered the rivers Tigris, Euphrates, and
Danube, the desert and the ocean, as the walls of Rome.
"When he [Aurelian] saw that it might happen what had occurred
under Gallienus, having obtained the concurrence of the senate, he
extended the walls of the city of Rome" (Vopiscus, in "Aur.," 21).
"Thus also Rome was surrounded by walls which it had not before,
and the wall begun by Aurelian was finished by Probus" (Zosimus, i.
49).
Other quotations might be given to show that Aurelian surrounded
the Rome of the empire with walls which it had not before his time.
He incorporated with his wall everything that stood in his way,—
tombs, aqueducts, palaces, camps, and amphitheatre. It was
commenced and finished in nine years, and had twenty-two gates,
nineteen of which still remain.
These present walls have been in part rebuilt, repaired, and
strengthened at different intervals, as occasion might require, from
the time of Honorius, who improved and added to the existing gates,
to that of Totila, who "resolved to raze Rome to the ground. So, of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1079768-250605074730-de3bba9a/85/Reconfiguring-The-Firewall-Recruiting-Women-To-Information-Technology-Across-Cultures-And-Continents-Carol-J-Burger-71-320.jpg)
Reconfiguring The Firewall Recruiting Women To Information Technology Across Cultures And Continents Carol J Burger
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- 7. Reconfiguring the Firewall Recruiting Women to Information Technology across Cultures and Continents edited by Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros A K Peters, Ltd. Wellesley, Massachusetts
- 8. Editorial, Sales, and Customer Service Office A K Peters, Ltd. 888 Worcester Street, Suite 230 Wellesley, MA 02482 www.akpeters.com Copyright © 2007 by A K Peters, Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photo- copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reconfiguring the firewall : recruiting women to information technology across cultures and continents / edited by Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, Peggy S. Meszaros. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-56881-314-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-56881-314-7 (alk. paper) 1. Computers and women. 2. Women in computer science. 3. Women com- puter industry employees--Recruiting. 4. Information technology--Study and teaching--United States. I. Burger, Carol J. II. Creamer, Elizabeth G. III. Meszaros, Peggy S. (Peggy Sisk), 1938- IV. Title: Recruiting women to information technology. QA76.9.W65R33 2007 004.082--dc22 2006038895 Cover image © 2007 JupiterImages Corporation Printed in Canada 11 10 09 08 07 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
- 10. Acknowledgments vii Part I: Introduction Sizing Up the Information Technology Firewall 3 Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 1. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in Information Technology: A Statistical Model 15 Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros Part II: The Secondary School Level Revisiting Culture, Time, and Information Processing Factors in Connecting to Girls’ Interest and Choice of an Information Technology Career at the Secondary Level 41 Peggy S. Meszaros and Jane Butler Kahle 2. Changing the High School Culture to Promote Interest in Information Technology Careers among High-Achieving Girls 51 Ann Howe, Sarah Berenson, and Mladen Vouk 3. Examining Time as a Factor in Young Women’s Information Technology Career Decisions 65 Sarah Berenson, Laurie Williams, Joan Michael, and Mladen Vouk 4. Information Processing and Information Technology Career Interest and Choice among High School Students 77 Peggy S. Meszaros, Soyoung Lee, and Anne Laughlin Part III: The Post-Secondary Level Considering Individual, Social, and Cultural Factors in the Construction of Women’s Interest and Persistence in Information Technology at the Post-Secondary Level 99 Elizabeth G. Creamer and Lesley H. Parker 5. A Cultural Perspective on Gender Diversity in Computing 109 Lenore Blum, Carol Frieze, Orit Hazzan, and M. Bernardine Dias Contents
- 11. Reconfiguring the Firewall vi 6. Sociopolitical Factors and Female Students’ Choice of Information Technology Careers: A South African Perspective 135 Cecille Marsh 7. Women’s Entry to Graduate Study in Computer Science and Computer Engineering in the United States 147 J. McGrath Cohoon and Holly Lord 8. Women’s Interest in Information Technology: The Fun Factor 161 Bettina Bair and Miranda Marcus Part IV: Information Technology Careers Women and Information Technology Careers 179 Carol J. Burger and William Aspray 9. Women on the Edge of Change: Employees in United States Information Technology Companies 191 Sarah Kuhn and Paula Rayman 10. Multiple Pathways toward Gender Equity in the United States Information Technology Workforce 211 Paula G. Leventman 11. Barriers to Women in Science: A Cautionary Tale for the Information Technology Community 239 Lesley Warner and Judith Wooller Part V: Conclusion Refocusing Our Lens to Reconfigure the Firewall 253 Peggy S. Meszaros, Elizabeth G. Creamer, Carol J. Burger, and Anne Laughlin Appendix A 261 Appendix B 263 Appendix C 267 Contributors 269 Index 273
- 12. The editors wish to express thanks and appreciation for the support and encouragement of Ruta Sevo and Jolene Jesse, former and current, respec- tively, Program Directors of the Research on Gender in Science and Engi- neering at the National Science Foundation, and our thanks to Caroline Wardle, Program Officer in Computer and Network Systems. We also wish to acknowledge the financial support by the National Science Foundation for the project that led us to envision this volume and helped support the conference from which these chapters came. We also wish to thank Cisco Systems, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation for their contributions to the conference Crossing Cultures, Changing Lives: Integrat- ing Research on Girls’ Choices of IT Careers that was held July 31–August 3, 2005. This volume reflects the equal and interdisciplinary collaboration among the three editors. From the nascent idea for an investigation about how girls make career decisions that can lead to jobs in computer-based fields, to see- ing the need for an international gathering about the topic, and finally, to the development and production of this book, we have worked together in a way that has made the outcome greater than the sum of its parts. The Women and Information Technology team at Virginia Tech has had the good fortune to work with two able and conscientious doctoral stu- dents, Anne Laughlin and Soyoung Lee. They have helped us in innumer- able ways over the five years since the inception of this project, through the planning and organization of the conference, to the project completion as presented in this volume. In addition to her role as coauthor of one of the chapters, Anne Laughlin played a particularly influential part in preparing the final manuscript for publication. Anne reviewed all of the chapters and edited them to eliminate duplication while linking their key findings to the thread that flows through the volume. She made substantive contributions to the concluding chapter and developed the index. We are grateful for her timely and insightful contributions. We thank the conference participants who helped frame the research and action items we have included and those who completed manuscripts for Acknowledgments
- 13. Reconfiguring the Firewall viii this book. We especially acknowledge the help of Bill Aspray, Jane Butler Kahle, and Lesley Parker, who reviewed abstracts, acted as discussion lead- ers at the conference, reviewed and commented upon chapter submissions, and coauthored the introductions to the parts of the book. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD-0120458. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommedations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros
- 16. Sizing up the Information Technology Firewall Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros Carla, a sophomore in high school, can’t remember when she first used a computer; there was always one at home and at school to use. She enjoys using the computer to communicate with her friends, find information for schoolwork, and play games. She doesn’t think computers are just for boys and doesn’t think of herself as a “nerd.” Her mom says that Carla is the member of the family they call on to “fix the computer” when something goes wrong. Carla’s mom thinks it’s important for Carla to have a good career. When asked about career plans, both Carla and her mom think she should go into the same business as her father and brother—they are bill collectors. Why would a young woman who has the interest and ability to use comput- ers not think about pursuing a computer-based career, such as one in infor- mation technology (IT)? What was missing from the advice she was getting that resulted in her not seeking out more information about IT careers? When we began contemplating these questions, we wondered if girls who consider careers that are not traditional for women face different develop- mental demands as they process conflicting information, wrestle with ste- reotypes, and, at times, encounter negative feedback. We further wondered how girls’ interests vary across cultures and regions. As we rethink these questions in light of new scholarship that specifically targets the career decision-making processes, areas of future research are uncovered and practical implications appear. In the process of uncovering research about the factors that influence and support IT career choices for women, we found some interesting cultural differences in girls’ perceptions of career paths open to them. We found evidence that the “women in IT” question has received worldwide attention through a number of international conferences. The GASAT (Gender and Sci- ence and Technology Association) conference encourages the presentation of research about all aspects of gender differentiation in science and technology education and employment, while the European Gender and ICT Symposium has merged with the Christina Conference on Women’s Studies and now has a broader cultural focus. There are also regional and local conferences that feature research about women and information technology, such as AusWIT,
- 17. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 4 the Australian Women in IT Conference, and the WINIT International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Gender, Technology, and the ICT Workplace at the Information Systems Institute at the University of Salford, UK. The three coeditors of this volume first began talking about an inter- national conference in 2002. We envisioned a relatively small conference structured for the maximum amount of interaction between and among participants and presenters, and where the travel expenses of some of the presenters would be supported in order to ensure that participants could come from around the world. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and Cisco, we developed and produced a conference in Oxford in the United Kingdom in July 2005. We invited three well-known discussants for the three sections of the con- ference. Drs. Jane Butler Kahle, Miami University; Lesley Parker, Curtin University, Perth, Australia; and William Aspray, Indiana University, are scholars who are well known and respected for their research about women and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. The conference attracted 50 participants from all over the world. Par- ticipants at the conference included researchers who had been funded by Ruta Sevo in the Program for Gender Equity, and Caroline Wardle of what was then called the IT Workforce Grants at NSF. They came from Aus- tralia, Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe. The international group of scholars who gathered in Oxford discussed a wide range of issues that reflect the rapid transitions that are occurring within IT. Friendly differences quickly became apparent as conference participants raised questions about a number of assumptions that have framed research about women and IT. Participants raised such provocative questions as: • Does the academic convention of emphasizing gender differences and downplaying areas where there are no significant gender differences in research papers unintentionally serve to perpetuate gender stereotypes about the place for women in the IT world? • Is the pipeline metaphor still useful given that women enter computing jobs in numerous ways? • Does the assumption that there are no longer significant gender differ- ences in access to computers minimize pressing issues of access that continue in non-Western countries, particularly Africa? Goals and Audience for this Book The primary goals of this book are to synthesize key research findings and conference discussions that cross the secondary, post-secondary, and professional settings in different countries; disseminate results of global
- 18. Sizing up the IT Firewall 5 research conducted about women’s participation in information technology and education; and establish an agenda of critical areas for future research about women and IT. The chapters in this book also touch on retention issues at all levels. The audiences for this work include K–12 educators, college faculty and advisors who implement activities and programs designed to increase interest in IT, those who fund these programs, academic researchers, and IT industry professionals committed to a diverse workforce. These practi- tioners and scholars will find the studies in this volume illuminating and prescriptive as they design new, more effective intervention programs and plan future research. What Is IT? Information and communication technology is a field where change is so rapid that it is difficult for practitioners, researchers, funding agencies, and policymakers to promote agendas that keep pace with it. Nowhere is this more evident than in the disagreement among researchers and practitioners about the utility of the term “information technology” to embrace fields of study as diverse as computer engineering, information systems, network engineering, and computer science. The term information technology (IT) or, as it is known outside of the US, information and communications tech- nology (ICT), embraces both computer and communications hardware and the software used to automate and augment clerical, administrative, and management tasks in organizations. It is a term that includes all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and utilize information in its various forms including business data, conversations, still images, motion pictures, and multimedia presentations. The interweaving of IT, telecom- munications, and data networking gave rise to ICT; Western Europeans favor the term ICT, in part, because it may be more attractive to women who favor career options in a field that is more “people oriented” than hardware oriented. Our use of IT is explicit because we are concentrating on the study of computer-related fields rather than on the adoption or use of technological inventions and products. At the beginning of the IT revolution, most of the innovation was pro- duced by computer scientists and computer engineers. In the mid-1980s when US women’s graduation rates from computer science (CS) depart- ments rose to 37%, there was great hope that the burgeoning IT field would be a place where women could participate equally with their male peers. However, in the later part of the twentieth century, the rate of women enter- ing CS declined and has remained virtually flat for the past 20 years. For
- 19. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 6 example, US women received 32.5% of the bachelor’s degrees in CS in 1981; 29.6% in 1991; and 27.6% in 2001 (NSF, 1994; NSF, 2004). The percentage decline was not more startling because the number of males who chose CS as a major also declined over this period; this mitigated the percent- age decline of females in the major even while the total number of female CS majors was in a steep decline. Meanwhile, the college graduation rates for women in the life sciences and mathematics reached parity with men, but the promise of equity in a physical science, engineering, or technology (SET)1 field did not materialize. Over time, the participation of women and minorities in the technology explosion has been uneven and limited even as the number of IT job openings increased. Since 1980, science and engineering jobs have been created four times faster than other US jobs. The Americans who fill them, however, are aging and stagnant in number, leaving others to fill the gap. The National Sci- ence Board (2004) predicts that between now and 2012, the US will need to train nearly 2 million more scientists and engineers. While women rep- resent 46.6% of the US workforce, only about 35% of the US IT workforce is female (Information Technology Association of America, 2003). More disturbingly, women hold only 10% of the top US IT positions, and fewer women are rising up the IT leadership ladder than in the past (Gibson, 1997; D’Agostino, 2003). The impact on society of the relative absence of women in IT careers is that women’s perspectives and concerns are not reflected in the design, development, implementation, and assessment of emerging technologies. There are also economic implications for women if they are not prepared for a career in one of the fastest growing and finan- cially rewarding career opportunities. To fill the gap in IT workers, women must consider IT as a viable career path. What is required to recruit women into IT careers in any significant numbers? Our purpose is to uncover the factors that influence females’ interest and choice of IT as a career field, and how this varies across race and culture; this purpose is at the heart of the previous question and forms the basis for this volume. Access to technology is still the number one issue for people in develop- ing countries. Sophia Huyer (2003) of the Institute for Women’s Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada, reported on the relative numbers of women with access to IT education and training in light of the gendered roles and sociocultural customs these women face. Huyer, Hafkin, Ertl, and Dryburgh (2005) analyzed the worldwide gender digital divide, focusing on developing regions of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Information from the 33 countries they examined showed that, even when controlling for infiltration of technology (computers and Internet access as well as cell phones and fax machines) into a particular society, women
- 20. Sizing up the IT Firewall 7 were still less likely to have access to IT than their male counterparts. The gender gap among IT workers is radically altered when governments, such as those in India, Singapore, and some parts of Africa, promote IT jobs as a key element of economic development. The disparity in numbers of women studying and working in scientific and technical fields has been discussed and studied from the perspective of two frameworks: as a result of individual barriers, such as innate gender differences in ability or socialization factors, or as a result of institutional barriers, such as the scientific culture and male-oriented pedagogy and cur- ricula. Most researchers now reject the idea that there is a genetic difference in mathematical or scientific ability between males and females, but they continue to seek to determine the interplay among individual differences, cultural socialization, and institutional policies—both written and unwritten— that lead women to dismiss IT and other SET fields as viable career options. As research about women’s interest in SET fields has grown increasingly more sophisticated over the last twenty years, research has moved to the use of com- prehensive models that encompass both individual and structural qualities. Challenges in Recruiting Women to IT Some researchers have struggled to understand why even proactive efforts to recruit women to degree programs in computer-based fields often are not successful (e.g., Cohoon, Baylor, & Chen, 2003). Even when they have both skills and interest in computers, females of all ages consistently express less confidence in their technological skills (Gurer & Camp, 1998; Lee, 2003; Sax, Lindholm, Astin, Korn, & Mahoney, 2005) and often fail to make a con- nection between skills, interests, and career choice (O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993). A number of researchers have been baffled by the discovery that, unlike men, women with little access to or knowledge of computer applica- tions are more likely to express interest in the field than those who have had broader exposure. Perhaps because stereotypical views are often explic- itly or implicitly reinforced in many interactions about careers, we found in our own study that women’s interest in IT diminished over time and as they had more interactions with others about the field (Creamer, Lee, & Meszaros, in this volume). While it is unlikely that unrealistic views about the nature of the field will translate to persistence, it is equally evident that considerably more attention is required to evaluate the types of information and strategies that are effective in recruiting young women to IT. Increasing the number of women of all races and cultures who are inter- ested in IT requires considerably more ingenuity than simply delivering information in an engaging way. Initiatives, like summer programs, are apt
- 21. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 8 to be effective when they invite parental involvement and manage to com- municate personal concern and interest in young women who are partici- pating in the activity. While emphasizing that the field has the potential for lucrative positions seems to influence men, women are more likely to be interested in activities that portray the creative aspects of the field and its potential to address pressing social problems. Activities that engage stu- dents in reflecting about skills, interests, and values and how these match a number of career options are critical to making a well-informed career choice. Recruiting efforts can have a significant impact on the career inter- ests of women when they extend over a long enough period of time so that a sense of community and trust is fostered. Understanding Factors that Predict Women’s Interest in IT Our interdisciplinary team has used self-authorship theory as a research framework (Baxter Magolda, 1999). At the center of the Information Tech- nology Career Interest and Choice (ITCIC) model we developed is a set of variables related to how students process new information to make career decisions (see Chapter 1 for a full discussion of this model). The ITCIC model indicates that many students lack the skills to evaluate information about unfamiliar careers and to offset negative or stereotypical informa- tion they hear about IT and related fields. Understanding this process has particularly strong implications for students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, rural settings, and/or where they have no one in their immediate circle of trusted others who works in an IT field. One of the greatest challenges faced by educators in the IT field is to present career information in a way that encourages students to consider career options that are not modeled by people in their immediate environment. Our model, as well as much additional research, underscores that par- ents are integral to the career choice process, even through the college years. It is important to provide materials directly targeted at educating parents about career options in IT. Involving parents in pre-college activities designed to expose students to information about a variety of IT careers is likely to have a direct impact on women’s interest in IT. Parents, advisors, and parent groups like the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) can go a long way to advancing the consideration of a wide array of career options by helping parents learn how to promote mature decision-making. The ITCIC model demonstrates that secondary and post-secondary school women in our sample who expressed an interest in a career in a computer-related field share five characteristics:
- 22. Sizing up the IT Firewall 9 • They are minorities (African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and multiracial Americans). • They perceive that their parents support this career choice. • They use computers frequently and in various ways. • They have positive views about the qualities of workers in the IT field. • They have not sought out much career information about the field. High school and college men in our sample who express an interest in IT share most of these characteristics. They, however, are less directly impacted by their parents’ perceptions of appropriate career choices and are even less likely than their female counterparts to seek out teachers, coun- selors, or others for career advice. When it comes to career choice, neither women nor men appear to engage in a systematic approach to career data collection. This is particularly problematic for new and emerging fields like IT where close acquaintances and the media offer only the most minimal insight. Organization of the Book This book is organized in three distinct sections that present research about women’s interest and persistence in IT majors in secondary schools, post- secondary schools, and careers in the IT profession. These sections repre- sent multiple layers of the gender equity dilemma we face in IT within the US and internationally. We invited Drs. Jane Butler Kahle, Miami Univer- sity, Oxford, Ohio; Lesley Parker, Curtin University, Perth, Australia; and William Aspray, Indiana University, Bloomington, all of whom are scholars who have researched and published in the area of women and IT education and careers, to act as advisors and to each partner with one of the editors to produce a section introduction. These introductory, integrative pieces synthesize the section chapters, add a broader, international perspective to the topic area (secondary, post-secondary, or professional), and deepen our understanding of the context and consequences of the findings. The depth of the work presented in this volume springs from the inter- disciplinary teams who formed the research questions and conducted their research using a variety of methods. A team of authors from different dis- ciplines—anthropology, human development, computer science, educa- tion, economics, biology, business, physical sciences—lends richness to the work and value to the conclusions. Chapters were reviewed by the editors and advisors and accepted for inclusion in this volume based on their theo- retical contributions, the quality of the research, and cultural diversity. The chapters broaden our understanding of the barriers and transition points
- 23. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 10 women encounter as they move through the educational system and into the working world both in the US and in international settings. Over the course of the development of this volume, the editors, advisors, and chapter authors reached agreement about a few important points that cross cultures and educational levels. We first agreed that, while there are some similarities, findings about the role of gender in the recruitment and retention of women in other SET fields cannot be generalized to computer- based fields. Second, it is important to conduct research that considers dif- ferences among the attitudes and skills of workers in different information technology subfields. Finally, we agreed that the public’s perception of the 1990s “dot-com bust” and outsourcing of computing jobs does not match the reality of the job market which will continue to expand in all coun- tries—albeit at different rates and with some variation over time. The Secondary School Level The authors of chapters in the secondary school section identify key factors precluding females from choosing a pathway leading to an IT career. The themes of failure to connect to the helping or relational interests of females, perceptions of a hostile “geek” culture and extended time required both in study and work life, curricular accessibility in high school, and the differ- ence in support for information processing and decision-making for males and females from teachers, counselors, and parents form the chapters in this section. A clear theme emerging from our research and that of authors in this sec- tion about female secondary school students and career decisions was the importance of a career that captures “helping.” This follows previous work investigating the reasons behind the preponderance of female majors in the social and life sciences. The drawing power of the helping professions was seen early in women’s participation in nursing and teaching fields. The life sciences, like biology and environmental science, and the social sciences drew large numbers of undergraduate women because of their apparent and overt connection to the human condition. Secondary school students do not often see IT careers as part of the “helping” professions. In their discussion about how a change in the culture surrounding com- puter-supported courses could promote girls’ long-term interest in IT, Howe, Vouk, and Berenson reinforce the idea that it is the perception of the IT cul- ture as male, competitive, and having little connection to the practicalities of everyday life that keeps female secondary school students from enter- ing and remaining in computer classes beyond keyboarding and, perhaps, Web design. Other perceptions discouraging their sample of high-achieving females from selecting a career in IT were the failures of secondary school
- 24. Sizing up the IT Firewall 11 computer science classes to be perceived as both accessible and necessary as well as the lack of supportive teachers. Berenson, Williams, Vouk, and Michael examined time as a factor in female career decisions and found that perceptions of extended time among their sample made the choice of an IT career unattractive. The long hours of post-secondary study required, combined with the long working hours necessary to advance in IT careers, discouraged their females from choos- ing the IT career path. The intensity of the computer “geek” culture did not give them the long-term flexibility they desired. Meszaros, Lee, and Laughlin reviewed models of both male and female secondary school students’ predictions of interest and choice of an IT career and found significant differences in their information processing and deci- sion orientation. This finding suggests that a greater support role from par- ents, teachers, and counselors is needed for females. Specific suggestions for building trust and communicating support are given. The Post-Secondary Level The authors of the chapters in the post-secondary section of this volume engage the reader in reflection about different views on the effectiveness of female-targeted interventions. Both Bair and Marcus and Cohoon and Lord argue, in their respective chapters, that female and male undergraduate and graduate students are attracted to computing fields for the same reasons: that is, enjoyment of the activities that can be accomplished with comput- ers. Cohoon and Lord argue, however, “Being gender blind does not attract women into computing.” Their demonstration that recruiting by male fac- ulty members and graduate students has a significant negative effect on the enrollment of women in graduate programs in computer science and computer engineering should lead to more research about more effective recruitment approaches. Authors of two other chapters in this section take a very different view of the appropriateness of gender-centered activities and programs. Blum et al. maintain that “women do not need handholding or a ‘female friendly’ cur- riculum in order for them to enter and be successful in CS or related fields, nor is there need to change the fields to suit women. To the contrary, cur- ricular changes based on presumed gender differences can be misguided, particularly if they do not provide the skills and depth needed to succeed and lead in the field. Such changes will only serve to reinforce, even per- petuate, stereotypes and promote further marginalization.” For example, having a special preprogramming course for women may give weight to the stereotype of women as less than capable of programming and in need of remedial help. A better approach, used in the Carnegie Mellon University
- 25. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 12 model, is to reach out to secondary school CS teachers to increase their awareness of the best practices needed to recruit and retain female students who will then be prepared for post-secondary CS courses. The chapters by Blum, Frieze, Hazzan, and Dias and by Marsh argue that many outcomes attributed to gender differences are largely the result of cultural and environmental conditions. These chapters remind us that it is more accurate to say that the underrepresentation of women is not a uni- versal problem but one that reflects certain countries and cultures. These are settings where IT is less likely to be characterized as a masculine field and where there is strong governmental support for women’s participation in economic development. Several authors challenge the traditional view that access to and use of computers and access to programming classes are essential to effective recruiting to computing majors. Blum et al. point out that the success of Carnegie Mellon University in recruiting women to computing majors was achieved, in part, by eliminating the admission requirement for prior expe- rience with computer programming, a skill that is much more characteristic of male than female applicants. Similarly, Marsh, from Walter Sisulu Uni- versity, South Africa, demonstrates how a proactive governmental policy can attract women with little prior access or exposure to computers or IT majors. By attracting more women into undergraduate and graduate IT fields, the government hopes to increase its technology workforce and aid in economic growth. IT Careers The long-range goal of all gender equity research in the IT fields is to increase the number of women who enter and succeed in IT careers. These can be academic, teaching at the post-secondary or secondary school level; in industry, as a primary IT worker developing hardware or software; or as a network manager or IT technical resource person in any number of private businesses or government agencies. At all levels and in any IT workplace, male IT workers outnumber females. To get a picture of how women and men enter IT, Leventman introduced the concept of multiple pathways into professional IT positions. The pathways, labeled Traditional, Transitional, and Self-directed, are examined and compared to each other in the areas of job satisfaction, career development, technical and supervisory responsi- bilities, mentoring, networking, and keeping skills current. Leventman’s findings overlap with those of Kuhn and Rayman, which together bring into question the usefulness of the pipeline metaphor for IT. They report that women in IT jobs often get there through circuitous pathways and opportunities. Kuhn and Rayman delved deeper into the “job
- 26. Sizing up the IT Firewall 13 satisfaction” area and found that many women and some men were con- cerned about their inability to balance work and family responsibilities, with work usually winning. Both research projects report that the workers are very satisfied with their work and feel that they “fit into” the IT culture. All IT workers are inquisitive and like solving the puzzles that their work presents. This “puzzle solving” theme is one heard by many interviewers. Both women and men define success in terms of “income, challenge, and recognition.” What is not seen is the reason female students report for their interest in the biological sciences—that of “helping people.” While this might be an important recruiting strategy, it does not appear to be in the top reasons women stay in or leave their IT jobs. Having enough time for a personal life seems to be more important to those who have stayed in the pipeline long enough to secure an IT position than helping others through their work. This could be the result of some self-selecting out of the IT pipeline because they don’t see IT as a career that welcomes those who do want to help people or provide practical solutions for social problems. Moving from the northeastern US to the antipodes, Warner and Wooller give us a better understanding about the historical timeline of legislation that resulted in equal opportunity/affirmative action laws and policies being enacted in Australia. The driving force for these changes in Australia and, as they show, in the European Union countries, was the realization that in order to be competitive in IT, countries had to support anyone—including females—who had an interest in IT. As stated above, the goals of programs that deal with females in the edu- cation pipeline with additional projects targeted to inform parents, or those that come from informal sources—museum programs, mentoring or net- working programs, or summer computer camps, for example—are usually altruistic. Countries and companies are more interested in the economic benefits and prestige that come from having an IT workforce that is inven- tive and productive. As we see in all of these chapters, the historically male culture of computer science and engineering sometimes subverts these goals. The satisfaction women feel as IT professionals may not overcome the stress of the workplace environment, the choices they must make about whether or not to have children, or the time they spend on the job or com- muting to their jobs. Some of the insight offered by this volume might be reflected in how Carla’s decision-making process matured and her interest in IT grew as a result of actions taken by individuals using a new ecological lens to view the barriers surrounding an IT career. We will visit Carla again in the final chapter to see how research put into practice has helped her achieve suc- cess in an IT career.
- 27. Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros 14 References Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1999). Creating contexts for learning and self-authorship: Constructive developmental pedagogy. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press. Cohoon, J. M., Baylor, K. M., & Chen, L.-Y. (2003). Continuation to graduate school: A look at computing departments. Charlottesville, VA: Curry School of Educa- tion, University of Virginia. D’Agostino, D. (2003. October 1). Where are all the women IT leaders? Eweek. Retrieved September 29, 2006, from www.eweek.com/article2/ 0,1759,1309599,00.asp Gibson, S. (1997, October 6). The nonissue—gender in the IT field. PC Week, 14(42), p. 112. Gurer, D., & Camp, T. (1998). Investigating the incredible shrinking pipeline for women computer science. Retrieved June 9, 2006, from http://women.acm.org/ documents/finalreport.pdf Huyer, S. (2003). Gender, ICT, and Education. Unpublished manuscript. Huyer, S., Hafkin, N., Ertl, H., & Dryburgh, H. (2005). Women in the information society. In G. Sciadis (Ed.), From the digital divide to digital opportunities: Mea- suring infostates for development (pp. 135–196). Montreal: Orbicom. Information Technology Association of America (2003). Building the 21st century information technology workforce: Groups underrepresented in the IT workforce [Task force report]. Retrieved October 10, 2005, from http://www.itaa.org/ workforce/studies.recruit.htm Lee, A. C. K. (2003). Undergraduate students’ gender differences in IT skills and attitudes. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(4), 488–500. National Science Board. (2004). Science and engineering indicators 2004: Vol. 1 (Publication No. NSB 04-1). Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation National Science Foundation. (1994). Women, minorities, and persons with dis- abilities in science and engineering: 1994 (NSF Publication No. 94-333). Arling- ton, VA: Author. National Science Foundation. (2004). Women, minorities, and persons with dis- abilities in science and engineering: 2004 (NSF Publication No. 04-317). Arling- ton, VA: Author. O’Brien, K. M., & Fassinger, R. E. (1993). A causal model of the career orienta- tion and career choice of adolescent women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 40(4), 456–469. Sax, L. J., Lindholm, J. A., Astin, A. W., Korn, W. S., & Mahoney, K. M. (2005. May). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Institu- tional Research, San Diego, CA. Notes 1. While mathematics is foundational for all of the science, engineering, and technology fields, women have reached parity in mathematics college degrees. Therefore, we have chosen to concentrate on SET rather than on STEM.
- 28. Abstract This chapter explains a theoretically driven and empirically supported model that identifies key factors that predict high school and college wom- en’s interest in and choice of a career in information technology. At the center of the model is the developmental construct of self-authorship and a set of variables related to the process individuals use to make personal and educational decisions. It is our conclusion that reliance on guidance from a narrow circle of trusted others that includes family members, but rarely teachers and counselors, is one reason that women continue to express an interest in sex-typical careers. Findings have direct implications for recruit- ing and advising practice. Introduction Research since the early 1970s indicates that a different set of variables is required in models that predict women’s and men’s career interests and choice (O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993). There are, for example, significant gen- der differences in how men and women become interested in, enter, and remain in the computing field (Almstrum, 2003). A number of factors are associated with women’s career interests that are not significant for men, including self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982), consideration of the needs of others (Taylor & Betz, 1983), attachment to parents (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; O’Brien, Friedman, Tipton, & Linn, 2000; Rainey & Borders, 1997) and the value awarded to marriage and a family (Fassinger, 1990). There is a much weaker connection for women than there is for men between interests, enjoyment, and career choice (O’Brien & Fassinger). The purpose of this chapter is to explain a theoretically driven statisti- cal model that identifies key factors that predict high school and college women’s interest and choice in a career in IT. Chapter 4 in this volume, Chapter 1 Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in Information Technology A Statistical Model Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros
- 29. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 16 by Meszaros, Lee, and Laughlin, examines the impact of most of the same factors for a subset of the population, high school women and men. By IT, we mean a full range of professional careers that are computer driven, including those that involve Web design and development, and hardware and software engineering, but exclude data processing. Although the model has been documented statistically through path analysis of 373 female respondents, we set out to explain it a nontechnical way in order to reach a wide audience. Our target audience includes not only academics engaged in research about gender and IT, but also educators who design and imple- ment programs targeted at recruiting and retaining women in IT majors and careers. To clarify our discussions about female students’ characteristics in our model, we also used comparison data from 404 male respondents. At the center of our theoretical model is the developmental construct of self-authorship (Baxter Magolda, 1992, 1999) and a set of variables related to the process individuals use to make personal and educational decisions. In the model, this process is represented by four variables: decision orien- tation, receptivity, information sources, and information credibility. These variables relate to the role of information from others in career interests. Analysis of data from 170 interviews with high school, community college, and college women between 2002 and 2005 alerted us to the salience of this set of variables. Figure 1 depicts the full conceptual model. Key findings from analysis of both our qualitative and quantitative data have led us to conclude that for both male and female high school and college students, the expression of interest in a career in the IT field is often made with little concrete informa- tion from sources outside of the immediate circle of trusted friends and fam- Figure 1. The conceptual model. Race Parental Support IT Career Interest & Choice Computer Use Positive Attitude Information Source
- 30. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 17 ily members. In general, women who expressed an interest in IT as a poten- tial career choice perceived that their parents supported the choice, but the choice was not significantly impacted by information from other sources. Surprisingly, the fewer contacts our respondents made to talk about career options, the more likely they were to express an interest in an IT career. Because this indicates that individuals are making career choices with little self-reflection and circumscribed information, this finding does not bode well for the likelihood of long-term persistence in the field. Findings sup- port the conclusion that one of the biggest challenges facing educators who want to promote women’s interest in SET fields (science, engineering, and technology) is to develop a portfolio of developmentally appropriate strate- gies that engage young women in thoughtful reflection about career options that are good matches for their values, skills, and interests. Summary of Key Findings In addition to the exogenous variables that are controlled for in our model (birth year, educational level, and mother’s and father’s educational level), there are five key variables that impact women’s IT career interest and choice in a direct and indirect way. Variables with a statistically signifi- cant direct impact are (a) race, (b) parental support, (c) computer use, (d) positive attitudes about the attributes of IT workers, and (e) information sources. Variables that have an indirect impact on women’s interest and choice of a career in IT are (a) parents’ education levels, and (b) decision orientation. In the section below is a description of a fictional character, Kiaya. Kiaya is a composite figure who integrates the central findings from the qualita- tive and quantitative findings of our long-term research project. Kiaya: The Next Generation IT Worker Kiaya is an African American college sophomore who completed high school in a suburb of a large metropolitan city. Kiaya was raised in a two-parent, middle class home. Both of her parents completed a college degree and both are employed full-time in a professional position. Kiaya had access to a home computer from a young age. She uses a computer daily for a variety of purposes. Kiaya has positive views, rather than stereotypical views, about the attri- butes of IT workers, thinking that they are smart, creative, and hard work- ing. She is moderately confident she can solve computer problems when she encounters them. She knows people employed in the IT field and who
- 31. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 18 enjoy working with computers. She is not particularly concerned that IT is a male dominated field. Kiaya’s parents, particularly her mother, are key to understanding the process she uses to make important life decisions, including the choice of a career. They believe that the IT field is an appropriate choice for their daughter and have encouraged her to talk with others who are acquainted with the field. They have promoted Kiaya’s confidence in her own judg- ment by modeling effective decision-making. They have encouraged her to seek input from informed outsiders when making an important life choice, while at the same time repeatedly underscoring the importance of making choices that match her values, interests, and skills. In these ways, Kiaya’s parents have promoted her development of self-authorship. Our fictional composite, Kiaya, presents the key characteristics that we have found through empirical research to be associated with high school and college women’s interest in a career in IT. First, they are more likely to be a minority than Caucasian. Second, they have parents who support the importance of a career and encourage career exploration. Their mothers have completed a higher level of education than those who express little or no interest in a career in IT. Participants who expressed an interest in IT had parents who felt that IT offers job options that are a suitable match with their daughter’s interests and skills. Third, participants who expressed an interest in a career in IT used com- puters in their home from an early age. They use computers on a daily basis and for a variety of purposes, including social exchanges through email or instant messaging. They feel reasonably confident that they can solve prob- lems they encounter on the computer. Some have had the opportunity to be employed in a setting where computers are used for problem solving. Fourth, participants who expressed an interest in a career in IT have posi- tive views about the attributes of workers in computer-related fields, believ- ing that they are smart, hardworking, and creative. They do not endorse stereotypical views that workers in these fields are “geeks,” “loners,” or “antisocial.” The fact that IT is a male-dominated field is not considered a significant deterrent to interest in the field. Fifth, Kiaya is an ideal character, compared to many of our participants, in that she has had the advantage of parents who have promoted the devel- opment of mature decision-making skills and encouraged her to genuinely reflect on the input of informed outsiders without disregarding her own personal values, skills, and interests. Kiaya has played an active role in seeking out career information and has given thought to the input of others both within and outside of her immediate family, including from teachers,
- 32. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 19 counselors, advisors, and professionals in her fields of interest. Her parents’ style of parenting has promoted the confidence Kiaya feels about making decisions. Kiaya is further along in the journey toward the development of self-authorship than most of our participants. In the remainder of the chapter, we will summarize our theoretical framework and details of our research methods. A list of questionnaire items in each variable, plus statistical information about the reliability of the variables in the model, appears in the appendices. The central portion of the chapter is organized around key variables in the model. In the sec- tion about each variable, there is a summary of the relevant literature, a description of key findings from our research, and a brief discussion of the comparison to men in our sample. Each section ends with reflections about the implications for practice. We reacquaint you with Kiaya in each section by repeating the relevant portion of our composite character. Theoretical Framework We employ the developmental construct of self-authorship as a theoreti- cal lens to understand the cognitive processes students use to make deci- sions, including career decisions (Baxter Magolda, 2002). Defined as “the ability to collect, interpret, and analyze information and reflect on one’s own beliefs in order to form judgments” (Baxter Magolda, 1998, p. 143), self-authorship is grounded in the work of Perry (1970) and Kegan (1982). Self-authorship is linked to decision-making because it influences how indi- viduals make meaning of the advice they receive from others and the extent to which the reasoning they employ reflects an internally grounded sense of self (Baxter Magolda, 1998, 1999, 2001). Individuals at different stages of cognitive development have different ways of approaching decisions. Individuals early in the journey to self- authorship—a stage Baxter Magolda refers to as external formulas—are likely to make decisions that reflect unquestioned faith in the views of trusted others. They trust others to know what career choices best fit them. Those who have advanced to the middle point of the development of self- authorship—what Baxter Magolda calls transitional knowers—have lost the comfort of unquestioned trust in authorities, but have yet to develop other criteria to judge input and make decisions. They are skeptical of authorities, but have no systematic set of criteria to approach decisions or to evaluate knowledge. It is only after achieving a full measure of self-authorship that an individual can be genuinely open to the input of others, without allow- ing the exchange to erode a sense of self. A self-authored career decision is one that is made with the internal compass of a clear sense of self, an open-
- 33. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 20 ness to the input of others, and a sense of the match between the demands of a field and personal interests, values, and skills. Developmental theorists provide a framework that is at odds with the assumption that high school and college students automatically accept the word of learned authorities. They offer developmental reasons for why many college students may not be in a position to genuinely engage diverse view- points from unfamiliar others, including from advisors and teachers. First and second year students of a traditional-age are likely to be absolute know- ers (Baxter Magolda & King, 2004). They are engaged in dependent relation- ships where decisions are made to please trusted others, like parents and friends. It is probably difficult for this group to accept advice that conflicts with the guidance provided by trusted others. College juniors and seniors are most likely to be transitional knowers (Baxter Magolda, 1999) but still have no systematic way of approaching personal decisions and few criteria to judge the advice of others. Trust and care for the person offering advice may become the principal criteria for making a life decision (Creamer, Lee, & Laughlin, 2006) because until the later stages of epistemological develop- ment individuals have few criteria other than the nature of the relationship to judge advice or the advice giver (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997). Methods Research Participants and Data Collection The overall data collection and analysis procedures consist of three phases: the first survey and interview data collection, the follow-ups and revisions, and the second survey and interview data collection testing our theoreti- cal model and subsequently revised survey questionnaires and interview protocols. First phase of data collection (2002). For the first-year data collection, letters seeking cooperative agreements to participate in this project were sent to high schools, community colleges, and colleges in Virginia. We received written letters of agreement from ten high schools, two community colleges, and four colleges in rural and urban locations in Virginia and distributed the survey questionnaires about participants’ computer-related attitudes, career influencers, and career decisions to these schools during spring 2002. A total of 467 participants returned completed usable questionnaires for a 62% response rate (467 of 750). The first-year survey participants consisted of (a) 346 females (74.1%) and 121 males (25.9%); (b) 177 high school students (37.9%), 118 community college students (25.3%), and 172 college students (36.8%); and (c) 322 whites (69.0%), 139 minorities
- 34. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 21 (29.7%), and six unidentified races (1.3%). We also completed one-on-one 30 minute telephone interviews with a total of 119 female students (46 high school, 40 college, and 33 community college women) and 25 parents of the high school interview participants during fall 2002. Second phase of data collection (2003). The main purpose of the second phase of data collection was to refine the data collection instruments. We revised the survey questionnaire based on the analysis of the first-year survey and interview data. We developed more comprehensive items about self-author- ship, parental support, information credibility, and IT career interest and choice and reformatted the survey questionnaire to be more user-friendly. Also, we added questions to the interview protocol about the role of par- ents and the decision-making processes related to IT career interest and choice. During spring 2003, we distributed the revised survey questionnaire to those who participated in the first-year survey data collections. Among 467 first-year survey participants, we distributed the survey questionnaire to 423 students who had provided their mailing addresses while completing the first year survey. We received a total of 124 completed survey question- naires from 63 high school (50.8%), 31 community college (25.0%), and 30 college students (24.2%). Since 51 survey questionnaires were not deliv- ered, our final survey response rate for the second phase was 33.3% (124 of 372). Other detailed demographic characteristics of the second year survey participants are as follows: survey participants consisted of 103 females (83.1%) and 21 males (16.9%). Also, 92 whites (74.2%) and 30 minorities (24.2%) participated in this second year study, and two students’ racial information was unidentified (1.3%). The follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with 13 female high school students and 12 parents, and each interview took from 30 minutes to one hour. Third phase of data collection (2004–2005). The third phase of this research project was intended to test reliability and validity of the revised survey questionnaire and to confirm our theoretical model of women’s IT career interest and choice. The third version of the survey questionnaire was dis- tributed to four high schools in Virginia and one college in Pennsylvania. To recruit high schools, we contacted the original high schools participating in the first phase of the data collection. Four of the original ten high schools agreed to participate. During fall 2004, we mailed a total of 845 survey questionnaires and received 556 usable surveys returned from these four high schools (66%). To gather survey and interview data from college students, we worked with personnel from the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) Advising Center at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). During spring
- 35. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 22 2005, 221 out of 350 college students completed our questionnaire and 40 of these students signed up to participate in face-to-face interviews. We conducted hour-long face-to-face interviews with 19 female and 19 male IST students during spring 2005. Our final questionnaire response rate for this phase was 65% (777 out of 1195). Tables A1 through A4 in Appendix A provide the detailed demographic characteristics of respondents to the third-year questionnaire. Measurements Questionnaire. A 119-item paper-and-pencil Career Interest and Choice Ques- tionnaire was developed over the course of three revisions between 2002 and 2005. The final instrument includes eight 4-point Likert-type scales designed to measure levels of parental support, information orientation fea- tures (decision orientation, receptivity, information sources, and informa- tion credibility), attitude toward IT workers, computer use, and IT career interest and choice among high school and college students. Item options are disagree (1), slightly disagree (2), slightly agree (3), and agree (4). All measures were coded such that the higher the value, the more positive the interpretation. Also, items asking about general demographic information were included in this questionnaire, such as birth years, parents’ educa- tional levels, race, school years, family structures and characteristics, and employment status. To address content and construct validities of each scale, all the sur- vey scales were constructed based on the relevant literature and our team members’ expertise. We also conducted face validity tests. In particular, to address the information orientation features’ content (decision orien- tation, receptivity, information sources, and information credibility) and construct validities, the original items were developed in collaboration with Dr. Marcia Baxter Magolda. Interview protocols. Semistructured interview protocols were used for tele- phone and face-to-face interviews in our research project. The original telephone interview protocol was designed in 2001 in collaboration with Dr. Baxter Magolda and refined for the second and third interviews. We included a question asking participants to identify some important deci- sions they had made in their lives and then to select one to talk about dur- ing the interviews. A question about the role of parents was also added to the revised protocol because it emerged as central to decision-making in the analysis of the first year survey and interview data. Example questions are as follows: (a) Please tell me about some important life decision you have made in the last few years. We’re going to be talking about your choice of
- 36. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 23 major and career later in the interview, so I’d like you to select some deci- sion other than that. (b) What process have you gone through or are going through to make a decision about your major and career interests? (c) Were there events or incidents in your earlier life or people who played a role in your decision? (d) Were there people who had a significant influence on your decision? Who were these people, and what role did they play in the process you went through to make the decision? And (e) what role did your mother and father, if you interacted with them regularly at the time, play in the process you went through to make the decision? All the interviews were audio taped. We prepared a verbatim transcript of each interview. Data Analysis Quantitative data. The first step in the development of the statistical model involved confirming elements of the theoretical model that played a signifi- cant role in predicting interest and choice of IT as a career pursuit. Factor analysis was used to confirm which combination of questionnaire items produced the most reliable measure of each of seven independent and one dependent variable. Each of our scales’ internal consistencies is reasonable (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.603–0.842), establishing high reliabilities of the sur- vey measurements. The questionnaire items in each of the scales that appear in the final models are summarized in Appendix B. The mean and standard deviation for each scale appear in Table 1. Cor- relations among the scales are displayed in Table 2. Using the independent t-test, we next examined group differences in eight key scales in our research—parental support, information orientation features (decision orientation, receptivity, information sources, and infor- Table 1. Mean and standard deviation of each scale (n = 777). Variables M SD Parental support 28.65 5.19 Decision orientation 37.44 4.73 Receptivity 15.60 3.01 Information credibility 28.41 5.49 Information sources 16.07 5.82 Attitudes toward IT workers 22.47 3.33 Computer use 15.05 4.08 IT career interest & choice 21.14 4.40
- 37. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 24 Table 2. Correlations among scales in the model predicting women’s interest in and choice of IT (n = 777). Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. Gender 1 2. Race .141*** 1 3. Parental support -.025 -.098** 1 4. Decision orientation -.083* -.027 0.49 1 5. Receptivity -.100** .095** .430** -.056 1 6. Information credibility -.067 .040 .351*** -.022 .430*** 1 7. Information sources -.100** .046 .351*** .156*** .293*** .474*** 1 8. Attitudes toward IT workers -.168*** -.201*** .073* .094* .163*** .114*** .087* 1 9. Computer use .194*** .183*** .183*** .068 .135*** .162*** .195*** .025 1 10. IT career interest & choice .211*** .082* .228*** .058 .132*** .165*** .099** .156*** .462*** 1 * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 mation credibility), attitude toward IT workers, computer use, and IT career interest and choice—by gender, race, age, participants’ level of education, and parents’ levels of education. Differences by gender are statistically sig- nificant for all but two of the variables in the model, supporting the deci- sion to present separate statistical models for men and women. Females showed more positive attitudes toward IT workers, relied less on external formulas, were more receptive to others advice, and communi- cated with more people than males. However, male students used comput- ers more often and were more interested in IT careers than female students. Table 3 shows the detailed results of the independent t-test analysis, com- paring group differences by gender in each of the scales in the model. We conducted a path analysis to test our theoretical model, running a separate model for women and men. Path analysis is a unidirectional causal flow model (Maruyama, 1998), which explains relationships between observed variables by arrows (Raykov & Marcoulides, 2000). Path analysis is very useful for researchers to articulate theoretical models underlying their logic. It is also beneficial to show direct and indirect causal effects of each independent variable on dependent variables (Maruyama; Raykov & Marcoulides). Each factor or scale in the model contains several items from the questionnaire.
- 38. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 25 Interview data. We used both a deductive and inductive method to create the coding scheme for the transcripts. The deductive element consisted of codes developed in previous research. The inductive element refers to codes that emerged during the process of analyzing transcripts. We used an itera- tive process, coding and recoding the transcripts separately until agreement about the codes and their definitions was reached. After agreeing on the coding scheme, we returned to the transcripts, coding them separately once again and meeting on several occasions to establish a level of agreement about the coding of the transcripts. As a final step in coding, we entered the data in the qualitative software, ATLAS TI. After that, we dealt with both the original coded transcripts and a printout that summarized responses to all of the key variables in the study. Variables that Influence Women’s Interest in and Choice of an IT Career The following section of the chapter describes key findings, including gen- der differences, for each of the key variables in the model. Each section is organized in a similar fashion. A brief summary of literature related to the variable or scale is followed by a reference to the composite figure, Kiaya, we created. This is followed by a summary of the key statistical findings about the role of this variable in IT interest and choice and how this varies Table 3. Group differences in model variables by gender (n = 777). Variables M SD t Females (n = 373) Males (n = 404) Females (n = 373) Males (n = 404) Attitudes toward IT workers 23.06 21.93 3.18 3.38 4.69*** Parental support 28.79 28.52 5.18 5.19 0.71 Decision orientation 37.85 37.06 4.58 4.84 2.32* Receptivity 15.91 15.31 2.98 3.01 2.81** Information sources 16.67 15.51 5.68 5.90 2.80** Information credibility 28.79 28.06 5.47 5.49 1.87 Computer use 14.23 15.81 3.89 4.11 -5.51*** IT career interest & choice 20.17 22.03 4.48 4.14 -6.01*** * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 Note. Code: females = 1 & males = 2 so that negative t values mean that male students have higher mean scores than female students.
- 39. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 26 by gender, if at all. The section on each variable closes with a brief discus- sion of the implications for practice. Variable 1: Race Several studies have examined racial discrepancies in computer and tech- nology use, access, attitudes, and skills (Flowers, Pasearella, & Pierson, 2000; Flowers & Zhang, 2003; Hackbarth, 2004; Lowry, 2004). While research has contributed to our understanding of existing racial differences in information technology use that begin in childhood (Volman & van Eck, 2001) and continue through the college years (Flowers et al.; Flowers & Zhang), few studies have examined the relationship between race and IT career interest and choice. Differences exist in technology use and skills by race among college students (Flowers et al.; Flowers & Zhang). A lack of computer competence is more clearly concentrated among minorities, especially younger females “of color” (Hackbarth). However, some 4th grade girls in talented and gifted classes, who had greater opportunities for internet, access both at home and at school, showed increasing interests in computers over time. Year-to-year changes in affection for computers did not systematically vary due to race or ethnicity among the 4th graders (Hackbarth). As an extension of prior research, our model shows that racial differences also exist in terms of career interest and choice in IT. However, in our model, minority females showed more interest in IT careers than Caucasian females did. There is a direct and significant relationship between race and IT career interest and choice in the statistical model. Both our female and male respondents who are minorities (African Americans, Asian Americans, His- panic Americans, Native Americans, and multiracial Americans) were sig- nificantly more likely to express an interest IT than our respondents who self-identified as Caucasian. Variable 2: Parental Support Our findings support a fairly substantial body of empirical research that documents the instrumental role of parents in career decision-making for high school and college women (Altman, 1997; Fisher & Griggs, 1994; Ketterson & Blustein, 1997; Way & Rossmann, 1996). Parents have a more significant impact on career choice than do counselors, teachers, friends, other relatives, and people working in the field (Kotrlik & Harrison, 1989). Parental attachment is positively associated with vocational exploration among college women (Ketterson & Blustein). Parents who discuss issues openly and promote independent thinking in their children encourage more active career exploration (Ketterson & Blustein).
- 40. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 27 A qualitative study by Schultheiss, Kress, Manzi and Glasscock (2001) examined family influences on both vocational exploration and career deci- sion-making. The majority of participants felt that their mothers, fathers, and siblings had played a positive role in their career exploration by indirect means such as providing emotional and informational support and by more tangible means such as providing educational materials. Furthermore, 36% of our participants indicated that their mother was the most influential per- son in their career exploration process, while 21% indicated this was true of their father. A fairly large set of research studies provide support for the role of moth- ers in women’s vocational choice (Felsman & Blustein, 1999; Ryan, Solberg, & Brown, 1996) and career orientation (O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993). Adoles- cent girls were more likely than boys to report that their mothers provided positive feedback, supported their autonomy, and were open to discussions about career decisions (Paa & McWhirter, 2000). Rainey and Borders (1997) determined that the career orientation of adolescent females is influenced by a complex interplay of their abilities, agentic characteristics, gender role attitudes, and relationship with their mothers. As our composite figure, Kiaya, illustrates, parents were influential in her career interests not so much because they identified and supported a specific career choice, but because they modeled ways for Kiaya to develop relatively sophisticated decision-making skills for someone of her age. In the statistical model, the scale for parental support includes nine ques- tionnaire items relating to perceptions that parents support the importance of a career and encourage career exploration, as well as agreement with the belief that parents have an idea of what would be an appropriate career choice. Parental support has a direct and positive impact on women’s, but not men’s, interest and choice of a career in IT. High school and college women who express an interest in an IT career believe that their parents support this career choice. Male respondents perceived parental support for their career choices too, but this did not have a significant impact on their interest and choice of IT. Consistent with what has been reported in the research literature, paren- tal support has a significant positive impact on both men’s and women’s career information-seeking behavior. Parents influenced how likely both male and female respondents reported they were to value others’ input (the variable, receptivity), seek out career advice (the variable, informa- tion sources), and how they evaluated the credibility of different sources of career information (the variable, information credibility). The level of education completed by each parent had a direct and posi- tive impact on the support they provided for a career and career choice (the
- 41. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 28 variable, parental support). For men, but not women, this variable also had a direct impact on computer use. High school and college women whose mother had completed a college degree were significantly more likely than those whose mother only had completed a high school degree to report parental support for a career and career exploration, as well as with another important variable in our model, computer use. There is no significant rela- tionship between mother’s educational level and any of the variables in the model for men. The direct relationship for women between parental support and inter- est in an IT career supports the idea that sharing career information with parents or involving them, particularly mothers, in educational activities is likely to have a positive impact on IT career interest. Findings from our qualitative research underscore that the challenge facing educators is how to design activities, such as recruiting events targeted to women, in a way that promotes trust and the ability to genuinely consider the information supplied. Variable 3: Computer Use The connection between computer use and positive attitudes and inter- est has been amply supported by previous research (Dryburgh, 2000; Sha- shaani, 1997). It is no surprise, therefore, to learn that computer use had a direct and positive impact on women’s interest in a career in a com- puter-related field. This held true for men as well. What is unusual about our findings, however, is that for women, an interest in an IT career is significantly related to amount of computer use, but not necessarily type of computer use. While experience with computers games has been shown to be an impor- tant predictor of men’s interest in computer-related fields (Volman & van Eck, 2001) this is not the case for our women respondents. Other research has shown, however, that experience with computer programming may be an important predictor of self-efficacy and success in a computer field for women. Learning a programming language is significantly associated with an increased sense of computer competence for women (Miura, 1987; Wilder, Mackie, & Cooper, 1985). High school programming experience has also been shown to be a significant predictor of women’s success in com- puter science at the college level (Bunderson & Christensen, 1995). These factors probably have more to do with the prognosis for long-term success in an IT career than the measures we have developed. Kiaya, our composite figure, has the good fortune to have ready access to a computer, both at home and in school. She uses a computer on a daily basis and for a variety of tasks.
- 42. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 29 The respondents to our questionnaire gauged how often they used dif- ferent types of computer applications, ranging from simple communication through email and instant messaging to more sophisticated purposes, such as development or design of Web pages. Not surprisingly, college students used computers on a significantly more regular basis than did high school students. For both male and female respondents, the more positive the atti- tudes about the attributes of workers in computer fields, the more time respondents reported they spent using the computer and the greater their interest in IT as a possible career choice. Our findings add to the volume of previous empirical literature that sup- ports interventions that provide opportunities for hands-on use of many kinds of computer applications. It is very likely that experience and comfort with more sophisticated computer applications is associated with the abil- ity to persist in a computer-related major or career, but is not, according to our findings, a prerequisite for preliminary interest in a computer-related major. Variable 4: Positive Attitudes about the Attributes of IT Workers It is surprising to learn that few systematic studies have been undertaken to examine the relationship between attitudes toward IT and IT workers and interest in IT as a possible career. Most research has been framed with a broader interest in the relationship between different attitudes (likeness, confidence, usefulness, gender stereotyping, and anxiety) and science. These studies suggest that a favorable or positive attitude toward computers and science influences higher level of acceptance of computer technology and enthusiasm about using specific technologies (Noble & O’Connor, 1986). Positive attitudes about computers and science are also related to certain behaviors. Positive attitudes about computers strongly influence computer utilization as a professional tool, the degree of access to computers, and the number of computer-related courses taken (Al-Khaldi & Al-Jabri, 1998). Our composite character, Kiaya, has favorable views about the character- istics of people who work in the IT field, agreeing with the portrayal of IT workers as being smart, hardworking, and creative. In our statistical model, positive attitudes about the attributes of people who work in computer-related positions had a direct positive impact on an interest in IT as a career choice for both women and men. High school students had significantly more positive attitudes about IT workers than did college students. Positive attitudes significantly influenced frequency of computer use and receptivity to career advice. Significant gender differences are evident in our variables measuring attitudes about the attributes of IT workers. Women were significantly more
- 43. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 30 likely than men to agree with the list of positive attributes and disagree with a list of negative or stereotypical qualities of IT workers. However, for both men and women, only positive attitudes had a significant direct impact on the dependent variable, IT career interest and choice. When all other factors were considered, agreement with the list of negative stereotypical qualities of IT workers had no significant impact on IT career choice or interest for either men or women. The impact of positive views about the qualities of IT workers on interest in a career in IT, like beliefs about the nature of IT work, differs from previ- ous research that suggests that men, in particular, are likely to agree with stereotypical views about IT workers and that these views deter women, but not men, from an interest in the field (Creamer, Burger, & Meszaros, 2004). We suspect that part of the explanation for the differences between our findings and previous research is related to the disappearance of signifi- cant gender differences in access to computers. Findings from this variable endorse the implementation of activities that promote positive views about the nature of IT workers. This is a slightly different focus than that of programs that might explicitly set out to reduce stereotypical views about workers in the computer field. Opportunities to use computer applications that highlight creativity and problem solving, particularly related to pressing human problems, are likely to be particu- larly effective with women. Variable 5: Information Orientation Four variables related to openness to input about careers from others make up a latent variable, information orientation, that is at the cen- ter of our model. As we have suggested throughout this chapter, unlike the assumption that high school and college students are open to the direction of authorities, our qualitative and quantitative data converge to suggest that women may experience considerable difficulty genuinely engaging different points of views about appropriate career options. This inclination might appear agentic or self-directed if it were not for the fact that skepticism exhibited by women may limit the career choices they consider. Our qualitative data led us to conclude that the failure to consider a broad range of information sources before making a career choice is not because career information is not available, as much as it is that many of our female participants seemed reluctant to genuinely consider the infor- mation or advice supplied by outsiders to the family, particularly when that advice came in conflict with the input they had received from trusted others (Creamer & Laughlin, 2005). Our interview participants readily acknowl-
- 44. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 31 edged the importance of seeking input from others, but seemed reluctant to approach adults to talk about career options and to consider new or con- tradictory information once they heard it. This reliance on guidance from a narrow circle of trusted others that includes parents, but rarely teachers and counselors, may be one reason why many women may fail to consider a broad range of career options, including ones that familiar others have little knowledge about. Kiaya has used a considerably different process to reach a decision about her interests than have most of our respondents. Significant gender differences were found for all but one of the variables in information orientation. The exception was a variable we call informa- tion credibility. The names, definitions, and key findings for each of the four variables in the information orientation scale are summarized below. Decision orientation. This variable is a proxy for the theoretical construct of self-authorship. This variable includes confidence in decision-making abil- ity, clarity of career goals, and likelihood of being unduly influenced by the opinions of parents and close friends. We do not call this variable “self- authorship” because we have not been able to measure all three dimen- sions of self-authorship (the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and epistemologi- cal dimensions) adequately. We have not been able to achieve satisfactory levels of reliability to include questionnaire items pertaining to the episte- mological dimension in our measure. Women scored significantly higher on the variable, decision orientation, than did men, underscoring the influence of others on women’s career choices. Women expressed significantly higher levels of confidence in their decision-making ability, but also were more likely to agree than were men that others influenced their decisions. This is not to say that they were sig- nificantly more confident than men in their career choice. The higher score is consistent with literature that suggests that women are more influenced than men are by the opinions of others (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). For women, there was a statistically significant path between the vari- ables decision orientation, receptivity (likelihood of seeking and value of the input of others), and information sources (how often women consulted others about career options). The negative relationship between decision orientation, our proxy for self-authorship, and information credibility means that the lower the levels of self-authorship the more likely women were to seek and to value the input of others. This finding that is not entirely con- sistent with the research about self-authorship. Receptivity. The variable, receptivity, was computed from four questionnaire items related to the extent that the respondent seeks and values the input
- 45. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 32 of others when making a big or important decision. Female respondents were significantly more likely than male respondents to indicate that they found it helpful to consult others when making an important decision and that they sought the input of family and friends when making an important decision. Receptivity directly impacted how credible they found advice from different groups, which, in turn, directly impacted the behavior of seeking out others for information when making an important decision. This pro- vides statistical documentation for the link between self-authorship—or our variable, decision orientation—and women’s response to information dur- ing career decision-making. Information credibility. This variable relates to how likely respondents reported they were to consider advice offered by ten groups of people that cluster in four factors (parents; teachers or counselors; other family mem- bers and friends; and others, such as an employer). The credibility awarded to different information sources was directly linked to how often different sources were consulted for career information. There were no significant differences by gender on this variable. Information sources. This variable refers to how often respondents indicated they had spoken to groups of others about career options. These include parents, teachers, counselors or advisors, male or female friends, and oth- ers, including employers. There were pronounced gender differences in the impact of this variable on interest in IT. Findings for the impact of the variable, information sources, and the dependent variable, IT career interest and choice were unexpected. This variable had a significant direct impact on women’s IT career interest and choice, but the relationship is a surprising one because it is negative. Women indicating an interest in IT had consulted fewer individuals than those who did not express a similar interest. This supports the conclusion that women who express an interest in a career in IT may be doing so with parental support, but with little information from other sources. Our model demonstrates the connection for women between level of self- authorship, as measured by our variable decision orientation, and each of the variables related to career information-seeking behavior. Respondents with lower measured level of self-authorship were more likely than other respondents to value the input of others and to find a variety of sources of career information to be credible. They were less likely, however, to actually seek out others for career information. It is possible that this gap between attitudes and behavior is explained by the fact that students may be endors- ing a behavior advocated (e.g., consulting others) by adults that they are not yet developmentally ready to pursue.
- 46. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 33 Conclusion Our model demonstrates that high school and college women who express an interest in a career in a computer-related field share five central charac- teristics: • Theyareminorities,whichincludeAfricanAmericans,AsianAmericans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and multiracial Americans. • They perceive that their parents support this career choice. • They use computers frequently and in various ways. • They view the qualities of workers in the IT field positively. • They have not discussed career options with a variety of people. Table 4 summarizes key findings, organized by each of the key variables in the model. Table 5 provides a summary of significant difference by gender on the key variables. Findings support the conclusion that one of the biggest challenges facing educators who want to promote women’s interest in careers in SET fields, including information technology, is to develop a portfolio of strategies that engage young women in thoughtful reflection about career options that match their skills and interest. Reliance on the broad dissemination of writ- ten information about nontraditional careers for women is not sufficient to Table 4. Key findings for women by model variables.* Variable Finding Age, education level Younger students had more positive attitudes and used computers more frequently than older students. Parental support Parents directly influence women’s interest in an IT career. They indirectly influence career choice through the career exploration they encourage Parental education More educated parents offered greater support for the importance of a career and promoted more frequent use of the computer than parents with lower levels of education. Computer use The more frequently computers are used, the greater the interest in an IT career. Attitudes about the characteristics of IT workers Agreement with statements that attribute positive qualities to IT workers. Information-seeking behavior regarding careers Women who express an interest in IT have consulted few sources about career information. *All findings are statistically significant at the .01 or .05 level.
- 47. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 34 promote the genuine consideration of suitable options that is necessary to make a well-informed career decision. Directions for Future Research As is typical for statistical procedures like multiple regression or path analy- sis, the majority of the variance in women’s interest and choice of a career in IT remains outside of the ability of our conceptual model to explain. This was true for men as well. There are undoubtedly many structural variables, such as cultural factors that support racial differences, gender stereotypes, and gender-based occupational segregation, as well as interactions that occur in the classroom, that would add to the predictive power of the model were it possible to quantify them. Similarly, we have yet to investigate the relationship between performances in certain types of course and course taking patterns to an interest in a career in IT. We plan to pursue many of these issues in the next phases of our research project. Implications for Practice The focus in our model on information seeking and processing skills has a number of implications for practices targeted at recruiting women to the IT field. When findings from our qualitative research and from the ques- tionnaire are considered together, there is strong evidence to suggest that increasing the number of women interested in IT requires considerably more ingenuity than simply delivering information in an engaging way. Table 5. Significant differences by gender in model variables.* Variable Finding Age, gender, education level Male respondents were significantly more likely than female respondents to express an interest in a career in IT career. Parental support There were no significant gender differences in respondents’ perceptions of parental support. Parental education Mother’s educational level played a significant role in women’s career interests, but had no significant effect on men’s career interests. Computer use Male respondents used computers significantly more frequently than did female respondents. Attitudes about the characteristics of IT workers Female respondents had significantly more positive views than male respondents about the attributes of IT workers. Information-seeking behavior regarding careers Female respondents were more likely than male respondents to seek input from others about career options. *All findings are statistically significant at the .01 or .05 level.
- 48. Predicting Women’s Interest in and Choice of a Career in IT 35 Instead, our research suggests that these efforts are most likely to be effec- tive when they incorporate parents and manage to communicate personal concern and interest in young women in the audience. This can be accom- plished, not by emphasizing how lucrative positions in the field are, but by discussing the creative aspects of the field and developing strategies that encourage women to gauge the match between their values, skills, and interests and those of a variety of career options. Recruiting efforts are most likely to have a significant impact when they extend over a long enough period of time so that participants can begin to feel a sense of affinity and trust for those that direct the activities. A constructive-developmental framework offers educators a way to understand that how students make meaning shapes their receptivity to career and academic advice. The learning partnerships model (Baxter Magolda, 2004) identifies principles and practices that educators can apply to promote complex decision-making and problem solving to foster self- authorship. Such interventions focus on creating safe environments where students have the opportunity to reflect on the process they have used to make an important decision and to explore the role that values and identity play in personal decisions with long-term consequences. An interdisciplin- ary context, such as offered by block scheduling of new students in inter- related general education courses, could create opportunities for students to explore the development of identity through biographies or life stories. When reflection and interaction are built in as a regular component, intern- ships, service-learning experiences, study abroad, leadership development and activities, and many team-building experiences can create the context for the development of skills required for complex decisions making and a safe environment for the exploration of diverse viewpoints. Acknowledgments This research was supported by funds from the National Science Founda- tion under grant HRD-0120458. References Al-Khaldi, M. A., & Al-Jabri, L. M. (1998). The relationship of attitudes to com- puter utilization: New evidence from a developing nation. Computers in Human Behavior, 14(1), 23–42. Almstrum, V. L. (2003). What is the attraction to computing? Communications of the ACM, 46(9), 51–55. Altman, J. H. (1997). Career development in the context of family experience. In H. S. Farmer (Ed.), Diversity and women’s career development: From adolescence to adulthood (pp. 229–242). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- 49. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Soyoung Lee, and Peggy S. Meszaros 36 Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well- being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427–454. Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psy- chologists, 37(2), 122–147. Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1992). Knowing and reasoning in college: Gender-related patterns in students’ intellectual development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1998). Developing self-authorship in young adult life. Jour- nal of College Student Development, 39(2), 143–156. Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1999). Creating contexts for learning and self-authorship. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming higher education to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2002, April). The central role of self in learning: Transform- ing higher education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2004). Learning partnerships model: A framework for promoting self-authorship. In M. B. Baxter Magolda & P. M. King (Eds.), Learn- ing Partnerships: Theory and Models of Practice for Self-authorship (pp. 37–62). Sterling, VA: Stylus. Baxter Magolda, M. B., & King, P. M. (Eds.). (2004). Learning partnerships: Theory and models of practice to educate for self-authorship. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Bunderson, E. D., & Christensen, M. E. (1995). An analysis of retention prob- lems for female students in university computer science programs. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 28(1), 1–15. Creamer, E. G., Burger, C. J., & Meszaros, P. S., (2004). Characteristics of high school and college women interested in information technology. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 10, 67–78. Creamer, E. G., & Laughlin, A. (2005). Self-authorship and women’s career deci- sion-making. Journal of College Student Development, 46(1), 13–27. Creamer, E. G., Lee, S., & Laughlin, A. (2006). Self-authorship as a framework for understanding life decision-making among college women in Korea. Manuscript submitted for publication. Dryburgh, H. (2000). Underrepresentation of girls and women in computer sci- ence: Classification of 1990s research. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 23(2), 181–202. Fassinger, R. E. (1990). Causal models of career choice in two samples of college women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 36, 225–248. Felsman, D. E., & Blustein, D. L. (1999). The role of peer relatedness in late adoles- cent career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54(2), 279–295. Fisher, T. A., & Griggs, M. B. (1994, April). Factors that influence the career devel- opment of African-American and Latino youth. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. Flowers, L. A., Pasearella, E. T., & Pierson, C. T. (2000). Information technology use and cognitive outcomes in the first year of college. Journal of Higher Educa- tion, 71, 637–667.
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- 52. Part II The Secondary School Level
- 54. The chapters in this section present a sense of déjà vu as we relive the late 1970s in mathematics and the early 1980s in science. Even the language is similar; for example, Allison Kelly’s (1987) term, “girl-friendly science,” coined during her groundbreaking work in British schools, has been trans- formed to “girl-friendly technology” or “girl-friendly software or programs.” Jacque Eccles’s (1989) research in gender and mathematics that showed— through path analysis—that boys attributed success in mathematics to their own skills and intellects, while girls attributed their success to hard work is echoed in chapters in this section. And, once again, we are chasing after role models, girl friendly activities, and mathematics skills and achieve- ment levels to understand why there are so few girls and women entering, or involved in, IT careers. Today, as in previous years, the number of women entering IT careers is affected by their enrollments and success in secondary mathematics and physical science as well as the numbers and types of technology courses available in the secondary schools. This is an international problem noted by Jane Butler Kahle at the 2005 international IT conference. She was reminded by a colleague from Norway, where the percent of women study- ing engineering has not kept pace with other advances for women, that the number of young women who enter engineering programs in colleges and universities is limited by the number who take physics in secondary school. As with math and science, researchers and educators are again turning to societal and cultural issues to understand and eventually alleviate the lack of girls and women in IT. For over two decades in the United States, we have known that girls have fewer experiences in science outside of school than boys (Kahle & Lakes, 1983). We also have known that girls desire to Revisiting Culture, Time, and Information Processing Factors in Connecting to Girls’ Interest and Choice of an Information Technology Career at the Secondary Level Peggy S. Meszaros and Jane Butler Kahle
- 55. Other documents randomly have different content
- 56. 249–271 273–299 MÆCENAS AND HORACE—BATHS OF GALLIENUS—S. BIBIANA—THE AGGER OF SERVIUS TULLIUS—THE PRÆTORIAN CAMP—TEMPLE OF FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA—PIAZZA DI TERMINI—BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN, AND CHURCH OF S. MARIA DEGLI ANGELI—VIA NAZIONALE—S. PAUL'S WITHIN THE WALLS— FELICE FOUNTAIN—THE NEW MINISTRY OF FINANCE—FLAVIAN TEMPLE—THE UNFAITHFUL VESTAL'S TOMB—SALLUST'S VILLA—VILLA LUDOVISI—CHURCH AND CEMETERY OF THE CAPPUCCINI—TABLE OF EGYPTIAN OBELISKS IN ROME RAMBLE VI. THE APPIAN WAY. THE PORTA CAPENA—THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES—BATHS OF CARACALLA—S. BALBINA—SS. NEREO AND ACHILLEO, SISTO, CESAREO—VIA LATINA—S. JOHN'S AND THE LATIN GATE—COLUMBARIA OF HYLAS AND VITALINE— TOMBS OF THE SCIPIOS AND CORNELIUS TACITUS—THE COLUMBARIA OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF CÆSAR—ARCH OF DRUSUS—PORTA APPIA—TOMBS OF GETA AND PRISCILLA—CHURCH OF DOMINE QUO VADIS—TOMB OF ANNIA REGILLA —CATACOMBS OF S. CALIXTUS AND HEBREWS—TEMPLE OF CERES AND FAUSTINA—VILLA OF HERODES ATTICUS—CATACOMBS OF DOMITILLA, SS. NEREUS AND ACHILLEUS—BASILICA OF PETRONILLA—CHURCH AND CATACOMBS OF S. SEBASTIANO—TOMB OF ROMULUS—CIRCUS OF MAXENTIUS —TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA—TOMBS, TEMPLES, AND VILLAS ON THE VIA APPIA—THE THREE TAVERNS—APPII FORUM RAMBLES IN THE CAMPAGNA. Porta del Popolo:—Villa Borghese—Villa di Papa Giulio—Acqua Acetosa—Ponte Molle—Villa of Livia—Veii—Monte Mario—Villas Mellini and Madama. Porta Salara:—Villa Albani—Catacomb of S. Priscilla—Antemnæ—Ponte Salara—The Anio—Fidenæ. Porta Pia:—Porta Nomentana—Villa Torlonia—Church and Catacomb of S. Agnese—S. Costanza—Ponte Nomentana—Mons Sacer—Tomb of Virginia—Basilica and Catacomb of S. Alexander. Porta S. Lorenzo:—The Roman
- 57. 302–349 350–358 Cemetery—Basilica of S. Lorenzo—Ponte Mammolo—Hannibal's Camp—Castel Arcione—Aquæ Albulæ—Ponte Lucano—Tomb of the Plautii. Tivoli:—Villa D'Este —Temples of Sibyl and Vesta—The Glen and Falls—Pons Vopisci—Villa of Quintilius Varus—The Cascades—Ponte dell'Acquoria—Villa of Mæcenas—Temple of Hercules—Hadrian's Villa. Porta Maggiore:—The Baker's Tomb—The Aqueducts —Tomb of Helena (?)—Gabii—Ponte di Nona—Villa of the Gordian Emperors— Tomb of Quintus Atta. Porta S. Giovanni. First Excursion:—Via Appia Nova— Painted tombs—S. Stephen's—The Aqueducts—Pompey's Tomb—Albano—Ariccia —Genzano—Lake and Village of Nemi—Palazzolo—Lake Albano—Castel Gandolfo —Site of Alba Longa (?)—Vallis Ferentina—Marino—Grotta Ferrata—Cicero's Villa. Second Excursion:—Frascati—Tusculum—Rocca di Papa—Monte Cavo. Porta S. Sebastiano:—Via Appia. (See page 258.) Porta S. Paolo:—Pyramid of Caius Cestius—S. Paul's outside the walls—Remuria Hill—Tre Fontane—The Viaduct of Ancus Martius. Ostia:—Street of Tombs—Houses—Warehouses— Temples—Docks—Palace—Walls of Ancus Martius—Museum—View from Tower of the Castle—Castel Fusano—Pliny's Villa VISITOR'S ROMAN DIRECTORY. ARTISTS IN ROME, ENGLISH AND AMERICAN—ARTISTS, NATIVE AND FOREIGN— CARRIAGE TARIFF—GALLERIES, MUSEUMS, AND VILLAS OF ROME—HOTELS RECOMMENDED—PUBLIC LIBRARIES—MASONIC—ORDERS REQUIRED, AND WHERE OBTAINABLE—OMNIBUS ROUTES IN ROME—PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN ROME—POSTAL NOTICES—LIST OF EMPERORS—LIST OF KINGS OF ROME
- 58. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. To get a good idea of Rome and its topographical situation, take a carriage and drive for three hours through the principal streets; more can be learned in this way than in any other. Start from the Piazza di Spagna; drive down the Via Babuino to the Piazza del Popolo, up to the Pincio, for a view of Rome, looking west; then along the Via Sistina, up the Quattro Fontane, to the right, down the Via Quirinale; stop in the square for the view. Proceeding to the Via Nazionale, turn up it to the left as far as the Quattro Fontane; then turn to the right past S. Maria Maggiore direct to the Lateran, from the front of which see the view eastwards; then follow the Via S. Giovanni down to the Colosseum, passing by the most perfect part. By the Via del Colosseo, Tor di Conti, Via Croce Bianca, Arco dei Pantani, Forum of Augustus, and Via Bonella, you reach the Forum, under the Capitoline Hill. Continuing by the Via Consolazione and Piazza Campitelli, follow the line of streets to the Ponte Sisto; crossing this, proceed up the Via Garibaldi to S. Peter in Montorio. Grand view of Rome and the Campagna, looking north, east, and south. Return to the foot of the hill; turn to the left down the Lungara to S. Peter's; drive round the square; then down the Borgo Nuovo to the Castle of S. Angelo. Crossing the bridge, take the Via Coronari to the Circo Agonale; then on to the Pantheon, and by the Minerva to the Piazza di Venezia; thence up the Corso as far as the Via Condotti, up which street you return to the Piazza di Spagna, after having thus made the most interesting drive in the world.
- 59. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ROME. Rome commences at a point—Piazza del Popolo—and spreads out southwards like a fan, the western extremity being occupied by the Vatican, and the eastern by the Lateran; both these head-quarters of the Papacy are isolated from the rest of the city. Modern Rome occupies the valley of the Campus Martius, which was outside ancient Rome, and the hills that abut it. Rome is divided into two unequal parts by the river Tiber, which enters the line of the walls, with the Popolo on its left. For a short distance it flows southwards; then it makes a great bend to the west; then again takes a southerly direction; and at the island again turns westerly. One mile south of the Popolo Gate is the Capitoline Hill, the Arx of ancient Rome, dividing, as it were, Old from New Rome. It rises two hundred yards east of the Tiber, and from it in an eastern direction lie the other six hills, curving in a horse-shoe form round the Palatine till the Aventine abuts the river. Of the hills, the Palatine, Capitoline, Cœlian, and Aventine were only isolated mounts, the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline being three spurs jutting out from the high tableland on the east side of Rome. These hills can easily be distinguished from the Tower of the Capitol; but the best way to understand them is to walk round them. Then it will be seen that they are hills indeed; and if we take into consideration that the valleys have been filled in from thirty to forty feet, and that the tops of the hills have been cut down, we may get some idea of their original height. Rome still occupies four of them; but the Aventine, Cœlian, and Palatine are left to ruins, gardens, and monks. The original Rome was on the Palatine, and as the other hills were added they were fortified; but it was not till the time of Servius Tullius that the seven were united by one system of fortifications into one city. The plan was simple. From the Tiber a wall went to the Capitoline, and from that to the Quirinal; across the necks of the three tongues the great agger was built, then across the valleys from hill to hill till the wall again reached the river under the Aventine. The aggers across the valleys were built right up towards
- 60. the city, so that the hills on either side protected the walls and gates commanding the approach. Of all the maps of Rome that have been published, the new one accompanying this work is the only one which correctly shows the line of the Servian fortifications. THE PLAN OF OUR RAMBLES. From the Piazza del Popolo four great lines of thoroughfare intersect the city, and passing up one of these for a few hundred yards we may count five lines. First we take the centre thoroughfare; then the two lines on its right; then the two upon its left: in this way, by dividing Rome up into five Rambles, pointing out as we go along every place of interest to the right and left, we mark out for a day's work no more than can be thoroughly done. Having thus seen the city, we take the environs outside each gate, commencing at the Porta del Popolo and working round by the east, with the exception of the Porta Appia, which leads out on to the Appian Way. As this Way presents so many points of interest, and as no visitor should think of leaving Rome without "doing it," we have made it a special Ramble for their benefit. HEALTH AND CLIMATE. Perhaps the health of no city in the world is so much talked about by people who know nothing whatever of the subject, as Rome. We meet with many visitors entertaining all sorts of curious ideas of the health of Rome—what they may and may not do; and when we ask them their authority they cannot give any, but "they have heard so." There seem to be mysterious ideas and impressions floating about that get lodged in some minds no one knows how. People get ill in Rome, of course, just as in any other place; but more than half the sickness is caused through their own imprudence, such as getting hot and going into cold places, and going "from early morn till dewy eve" without rest and refreshment. In all hot climates certain precautions should be observed, and then there is no fear.
- 61. We ourselves have lived many years in this much-abused climate, never knowing any illness, and enjoying far better health than when residing in London. O ye rain, mud, and fog! The well-known Roman physician, Dr. C. Liberali, M.D., in his "Hygienic Medical Hand-book for Travellers in Italy," says:—"The climate of Rome is in the highest degree salubrious and favourable to all, but especially to delicate persons; but they should follow the advice of a skilful physician of the country." People rush through Europe at express rate, eat all sorts of things that they are unused to at unusual hours, over-exert themselves, change the whole course of the living to which they have been accustomed, get ill, and then say, "It's the climate of Rome." There is no doubt that malaria fever does exist in the neighbourhood of Rome, but only during the three hot months; and as there are no visitors at Rome then, they are not likely to get it. It does not walk about the streets seeking whom it may devour, as some people suppose. The fever visitors get is ague fever, like that known in the Fen districts, and this is invariably taken through imprudence. USEFUL HINTS. Avoid bad odours. Do not ride in an open carriage at night. Take lunch in the middle of the day. This is essential. It is better to take a light breakfast and lunch, than a heavy breakfast and no lunch. No city in the world is so well supplied with good drinking water as Rome. The best is the Trevi water. Do not drink Aqua Marcia; it is too cold.
- 62. If out about sunset, throw an extra wrap or coat on, to avoid the sudden change in the atmosphere. There is no danger beyond being apt to take a cold. Colds are the root of all evil at Rome. Do not sit about the ruins at night. It may be very romantic, but it is very unwise. There is no harm in walking. Close your windows at night. If you get into a heat, do not go into the shade or into a building till you have cooled down. Do not over-fatigue yourself. Follow these hints, and you will avoid that great bugbear, Roman fever. "A hint on the spot is worth a cart-load of recollections."—Gray. THE TIBER. The work of clearing the bed of the Tiber has at last commenced. It is proposed to clear away the accumulation of the mud at different parts, remove some of the old masonry that stands in the bed of the river, and widen it at certain points. We very much doubt if this will have any effect upon the floods, as during the republic and empire, when there was not all this accumulation, Rome was flooded several times. The valley of the Tiber, in which Rome stands, is very low, forming, as it were, a basin which is easily overflowed. It would be advisable if the authorities were to clean out the old drains, and put swing trap-doors over their mouths, so that the drainage might flow out, and the river prevented from flowing in. Every winter some part of the city is under water, which is caused by the river rushing up the drains into the city, and not by the overflow of the Tiber. This inpouring might easily be stopped. Some people think that treasures will be found in the bed of the Tiber, but this is a delusion. Nothing of any value has ever been
- 63. found in the river, and it is not likely that anything of value was thrown there. Small objects only have been found in the recent dredging. The story of the seven-branched candlestick being thrown into the river is a delusion, for we have direct evidence to the contrary. (See p. 89.) The piers of the bridges show that the actual bed of the river has not been much raised; indeed the stream flows so fast that everything is carried down to the sea. Punch says anticipations may be entertained of finding the footstool of Tullia, the jewels of Cornelia, the ivory-headed sceptre of the senator Papirius, and the golden manger of the horse of Caligula. The length of the Tiber is 250 miles. It rises due east of Florence, in the same hills as the Arno. Its bed at the Ripetta in Rome is 5.20 metres above the sea, and it discharges at the rate of 280 cubic metres a second. The fall from Rome to the sea is 4.20 metres, or about thirteen feet, and it flows about five miles an hour. "'Behold the Tiber!' the vain Roman cried, Viewing the ample Tay from Baiglie's side; But where's the Scot that would the vaunt repay, And hail the puny Tiber for the Tay?" Sir Walter Scott. The river was originally called the Albula, from its colour, and it was named Tiberis, from King Tiberinus of Alba Longa, who was drowned in it, and became the river-god (Dionysius, i. 71). The ancient Romans looked upon their river with veneration; their poets sang its praises, its banks were lined with the villas of the wealthy, and its waters brought the produce of the world to Rome. HOW ROME BECAME RUINS.
- 64. "The Goth, the Christian, time, war, flood, and fire, Have dealt upon the seven-hilled city's pride." Rome was founded in the year 753 B.C., and it gradually increased, as we all know, till it became the capital of the world. By a summary of dates we will endeavour to give an idea of the manner in which Rome became ruins. In July 390 B.C. it was devastated by fire. Up to 120 B.C. it was subject to numerous raids by the Northerners, who, with the help of civil war, and a devouring fire in 50 B.C., caused the destruction of several of its most splendid buildings. In 64 A.D., during the reign of Nero, a terrible fire ravaged the city for six days; and again in 89 A.D. another fire took place, lasting three days. In the reign of Commodus a third fire occurred, which consumed a large portion of the city. In 330 A.D. Constantine took from Rome a number of monuments and works of art to embellish Constantinople. From 408 to 410 A.D. Rome was three times besieged by the Goths, under Alaric, who plundered and fired the city; and in 455 A.D. the Vandals took possession of Rome and plundered it. On June the 11th, 472 A.D., the city was captured by the Germans, under Ricimer, and in 476 A.D. the Roman Empire was broken up. About 590 A.D. continual wars with the Lombardians devastated the Campagna. In 607 A.D. the Bishop of Rome was made Pope. In 755 A.D. the Lombards again desolated Rome; and up to 950 A.D. it was held successively by the Emperor Louis II., Lambert Duke of Spoleto, the Saracens, the German king Armilph, and the Hungarians. In 1083 it was taken by Henry IV. of Germany; and in 1084 it was burned, from the Lateran to the Capitol, by Robert Guiscard. From the eleventh to the sixteenth century many of its buildings were turned into fortresses by the nobles, who made continual war upon each other; and during the "dark ages" the Romans themselves destroyed many monuments, in order to make lime for building their new palaces and houses.
- 65. Thus we see that when, in 55 B.C., Julius Cæsar, with his "Veni, vidi, vici," conquered the little island now called Great Britain, Rome contained in ruins many evidences of past splendour, and whilst the Romans were overrunning the rest of Europe, their empire was hastening to decay. We, the savages of those days, have ever since been growing in strength and wisdom, laying the foundations of future empires, overturning others, but not with the idea of "universal conquest," but simply for a "balance of power." Ancient Rome, by the help of invaders, flood, fire, the Popes, and its inhabitants, was reduced to ruins, which have been in considerable part preserved by an immense accumulation of soil, which, again, caused them to be forgotten till recent explorations once more brought them to light. Modern Rome stands thirty feet above the level of Ancient Rome, and is a strange mixture of narrow streets, open squares, churches, fountains, ruins, new palaces, and dirt. Built during the seventeenth century, the city is situated in a valley which formed part of the ancient city, and lies to the north of it, being divided from it by the Capitoline Hill, and offering to the visitor attractions which no other city can boast. The germ of the old Roman race which civilized the world is still alive, and is quickly rising to a new life—lifting itself, after twenty centuries of burial, from the tomb of ignorance and oppression. Here is the centre of art and of the world's past recollections; here is spoken in its purity the most beautiful of languages; here are a fine climate and a fine country; and here are being strengthened the power and the splendour of united Italy. THE WALLS OF ROME. FIRST WALL—ROMA QUADRATA. The city of Romulus, upon the Palatine Hill, was called from its shape Roma Quadrata. It occupied the half of what we know as the Palatine, and was surrounded by a wall built up from the base of the
- 66. hill, and on the top of the scarped cliff: this wall can be still traced in part. It was formed of large blocks of tufa, hard stone, and must not be confounded with the remains of the Arcadian period, on the Palatine, composed of soft tufa. "Romulus called the people to a place appointed, and described a quadrangular figure about the hill, tracing with a plough, drawn by a bull and a cow yoked together, one continued furrow" (Dionysius, i. 88). "He began to mark out the limits of his city from the Forum Boarium, so as to comprise within its limits the Great Altar of Hercules. The wall was built with Etruscan rites, being marked out by a furrow, made by a plough drawn by a cow and a bull, the clods being carefully thrown inwards, the plough being lifted over the profane places necessary for the gates" (Tacitus, xii. 24). When the Sabines were approaching to attack the Romans, in revenge for carrying off their women, Romulus strengthened the wall of Roma Quadrata, and the Capitoline Hill was occupied as an outpost. "He raised the wall of the Palatine Hill by building higher works upon it, as a farther security to the inhabitants, and surrounded the adjacent hills—the Aventine, and that now called the Capitoline Hill— with ditches and strong palisades" (Dionysius, ii. 37). "The city was difficult of access, having a strong garrison on the hill where the Capitol now stands" (Plutarch, "Romulus," 18). This hill was taken by treachery, and was not previously occupied by the Sabines. It was called the Hill of Saturn, but after its capture the Tarpeian Hill. "While the Sabines were passing at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, to view the place, and see whether any part of the hill could be taken by surprise or force, they were observed from the eminence by a virgin"—"Tarpeia, in execution of her promise, opened the gate
- 67. agreed upon to the enemy, and calling up the garrison, desired they would save themselves"—"After the retreat of the garrison, the Sabines, finding the gates open and the place deserted, possessed themselves of it" (Dionysius, ii. 38, 39). After peace was agreed upon, the two kings, Romulus and Titus Tatius, reigned jointly, and surrounded the Palatine and Capitoline Hills with a wall. The other hills, at this period, were not walled. SECOND WALL—THE WALL OF THE KINGS. We give it this title because it was built by the two kings jointly; considerable portions still remain on the Palatine, under S. Anastasia, and near the Forum of Augustus. The walls of Romulus and Tatius would naturally be of similar construction to the original wall of Romulus; there was but little difference in this short time. "Romulus and Tatius immediately enlarged the city.... Romulus chose the Palatine and Cœlian Hills, and Tatius the Capitoline, which he had at first possessed himself of, and the Quirinal Hills" (Dionysius, ii. 50). Numa erected the Temple of Vesta "between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills; for both these hills had already been encompassed with one wall; the Forum, in which this temple was built, lying between them" (Dionysius, ii. 66). The other hills were inhabited, and surrounded at different times with walls, forming fortresses outside the city for the defence of the city proper. Numa "enlarged the circuit of the city by the addition of the Quirinal Hill, for till that time it was not enclosed with a wall" (Dionysius, ii. 62). Ancus Martius "made no small addition to the city by enclosing Mount Aventine within its walls, and encompassing it with a wall and
- 68. a ditch. He also surrounded Mount Janiculum with a wall" (Dionysius, iii. 44). Florus says: "He [Ancus Martius] encompassed the city with a wall." Again: "What kind of a king was the architect Ancus? how fitted to extend the city by means of a colony [Ostia], to unite it by a bridge [the Sublicius], and secure it by a wall?" "The Quiritian trench also—no inconsiderable defence to those parts, which from their situation are of easy access—is a work of King Ancus" (Livy, i. 33). THIRD WALL—AGGERS OF SERVIUS TULLIUS. These seem to have been commenced by Tarquinius Priscus, and completed by Servius Tullius, and so called by his name. "He [Tarquinius Priscus] was the first who built the walls of the city [of which the structure was extemporary and mean] with stones, regularly squared, each being a ton weight" (Dionysius, iii. 68). Tarquinius (616 B.C.) "intended also to have surrounded the city with a stone wall, but a war with the Sabines interrupted his designs" (Livy, i. 36). "He set about surrounding with a wall of stone those parts of the city which he had not already fortified, which work had been interrupted at the beginning by a war with the Sabines" (Livy, i. 38). "He [Servius] surrounded the city with a rampart, trenches, and a wall, and thus extended the Pomœrium," 578 B.C. (Livy, i. 44). "As the Esquiline and Viminal Hills were both of easy access from without, a deep trench was dug outside them, and the earth thrown up on the inside, thus forming a terrace of six stadia in length along the inner side of the trench. This terrace Servius faced with a wall, flanked with towers, extending from the Colline to the Esquiline
- 69. gate. Midway along the terrace is a third gate, named after the Viminal Hill" (Strabo, v. 3). "Tullius had surrounded the seven hills with one wall" (Dionysius, iv. 14). The seven hills were not surrounded, strictly speaking. Each hill formed a bastion, and aggers, or curtains of earth faced with stone, were built across the valleys, uniting these bastions. The Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal, being ridges jutting out of the table-land and not isolated hills, had one long agger built across their necks. "Some parts of these walls, standing on hills, and being fortified by nature itself with steep rocks, required but few men to defend them, and others were defended by the Tiber.... The weakest part of the city is from the gate called Esquilina to that named Collina, which interval is rendered strong by art; for there is a ditch sunk before it, one hundred feet in breadth where it is narrowest, and thirty in depth. On the edge of this ditch stands a wall, supported on the inside with so high and broad a rampart that it can neither be shaken by battering-rams nor thrown down by undermining the foundations. This rampart is about seven stadia in length and fifty feet in breadth" (Dionysius, ix. 68). This grand agger can be traced almost in its entire extent, as also the smaller aggers. There seems to have been no wall—that is, stone or earth fortification—between the Aventine and Capitoline, the Tiber being considered a sufficient defence. "The city, having no walls in that part next the river, was very near being taken by storm" (Dionysius, v. 23) when Lars Porsena advanced to attack the city, after having taken the Janiculum, intending to cross the river by the only bridge, which, as we know, was defended by Horatius Cocles, and broken down by the Romans in his rear. The walls of Servius Tullius were strengthened at the time of the war with Gabii.
- 70. "Tarquinius Superbus was particularly active in taking these precautions, and employed a great number of workmen in strengthening those parts of the city walls that lay next to the town of Gabii, by widening the ditch, raising the walls, and increasing the number of the towers" (Dionysius, iv. 54). "On the eastern side it is bounded by the Agger of Tarquinius Superbus, a work of surpassing grandeur; for he raised it so high as to be on a level with the walls on the side on which the city lay most exposed to attack from the neighbouring plains. On all the other sides it has been fortified either with lofty walls or steep or precipitous hills; but so it is that its buildings, increasing and extending beyond all bounds, have now united many other cities to it" (Pliny, iii. 9). "After Camillus had driven out the Gauls, both the walls of the city and the streets were rebuilt within a year" (Plutarch, "Cam." 32). "The legions being brought to Rome, the remainder of the year was spent in repairing the walls and the towers," 350 B.C. (Livy, vii. 20). "They received a charge from the senate to strengthen the walls and towers of the city," 217 B.C. (Livy, xxii. 8). After the republic was firmly established, and the boundaries of the state enlarged, the walls of the city became obsolete, and it was to all intents and purposes an open city until the time of Aurelian. "All the inhabited parts around it [the city], which are many and large, are open, and without walls, and very much exposed to the invasion of an enemy. And whoever considers these buildings, and desires to examine the extent of Rome, will necessarily be misled, for want of a certain boundary that might distinguish the spot to which the city extends, and where it ends. So connected are the buildings within the walls to those without, that they appear to a spectator like a city of an immense extent" (Dionysius, iv. 13). FOURTH WALL—THE WALL OF AURELIAN.
- 71. From the time of Servius to Aurelian the city, though much enlarged, had no new wall, though the boundaries had been extended. To continue our last quotation from Dionysius, who died 7 B.C., this is evident. "But if any one is desirous to measure the circumference of it by the wall—which, though hard to be discovered, by reason of the buildings that surround it in many places, yet preserves in several parts of it some traces of the ancient structure—and to compare it with the circumference of the city of Athens, the circuit of Rome will not appear much greater than that of the other" (Dionysius, iv. 13). The Pomœrium, or city bounds, was enlarged, as we know, by several emperors, some of their cippi, or boundary-stones, being still in situ; but there was no wall. Where the roads crossed the line of the Pomœrium, gates were built, between which there were no walls. The Romans considered the rivers Tigris, Euphrates, and Danube, the desert and the ocean, as the walls of Rome. "When he [Aurelian] saw that it might happen what had occurred under Gallienus, having obtained the concurrence of the senate, he extended the walls of the city of Rome" (Vopiscus, in "Aur.," 21). "Thus also Rome was surrounded by walls which it had not before, and the wall begun by Aurelian was finished by Probus" (Zosimus, i. 49). Other quotations might be given to show that Aurelian surrounded the Rome of the empire with walls which it had not before his time. He incorporated with his wall everything that stood in his way,— tombs, aqueducts, palaces, camps, and amphitheatre. It was commenced and finished in nine years, and had twenty-two gates, nineteen of which still remain. These present walls have been in part rebuilt, repaired, and strengthened at different intervals, as occasion might require, from the time of Honorius, who improved and added to the existing gates, to that of Totila, who "resolved to raze Rome to the ground. So, of
- 72. the circuit of the walls he threw down as much in different places as would amount to about a third part of the whole" (Procopius, "Bello Gothico," iii. 22). Belisarius "made hasty repairs," after which the Popes stepped in and took up the tale, and put up inscriptions, so that there should be no mistake about it. Leo IV. built the walls of the Leonine city, to protect it from the Saracens, besides repairing the Aurelian walls. The Leonine walls can still be traced, the ruins standing boldly out in the landscape at the back of the Vatican. The present wall on the Trastevere side was built by Innocent X. and Urban VIII. The complete circuit of the present walls is between twelve and thirteen miles; they contain twenty gates, ancient and modern, nine of which are closed. Whilst the Romans considered the defences of the city to be the Tigris, Euphrates, Danube, desert, and ocean, their power was at its zenith; but when for the defence of their capital it was necessary to surround it with a wall, "the decline and fall of the Roman empire" had already begun. THE GATES. In the third wall of Rome we learn from different authorities that there were in all eighteen gates, commencing from the northern point at the river bank,—Flumentana, Carmentalis or Scelerata, Catularia (afterwards Ratumena), Fontinalis, Sangualis, Salularis or Salutaris, Collina or Agonalis or Quirinalis, Viminalis, Esquilina, Mæcia or Metia, Querquetulana, Cœlimontana, Firentina, Capena, Lavernalis, Randuscula, Nævia, Trigeminia. The sites of most of these have been identified. These names are culled from various authors, no one author having given us a list of them. Pliny gives us an account of the number of the gates in his time— thirty-seven in all—which has puzzled a great many writers; but,
- 73. studying them on the spot, the description of Pliny is very plain and easily to be understood. He says (iii. 9):— "When the Vespasians were emperors and censors, in the year from its building 827, the circumference of the Mœnia 'boundary' reckoned thirteen miles and two fifths. Surrounding as it does the seven hills, the city is divided into fourteen districts, with two hundred and sixty-five cross-roads, under the guardianship of the Lares. The space is such that if a line is drawn from the mile column placed at the head of the Forum to each of the gates, which are at present thirty-seven in number, so that by that way enumerating only once twelve gates, and to omit the seven old ones, which no longer exist, the result will be a straight line of twenty miles and seven hundred and sixty-five paces. But if we draw a straight line from the same mile column to the very last of the houses, including therein the Prætorian encampment, and follow throughout the line of all the streets, the result will then be something more than seventy miles." The gates may thus be analyzed:— 3 in Roma Quadrata } the 7 old ones to be omitted. 4 in City of Two Hills } 18 in the Agger of Servius Tullius. 12 double—that is, 12 in the outer boundary built over the roads where they crossed the Pomœrium, corresponding with twelve in the line of Servius, thus making in all,— 37, as mentioned by Pliny. Of the twelve gates in the outer boundary, eight still remaining are composed of work of an earlier date than the Wall of Aurelian. The twelve may thus be named: the four gates of the Prætorian camp (two of these partially remain, showing brick-work of Tiberius), Porta Chiusa or Viminalis, Tiburtina, Esquilina now Maggiore, Lateranensis, Latina, Appia, Ardeatina, Ostiensis.
- 74. Pliny (iii. 9) tells us that Tarquinius Superbus raised an outer agger on the eastern side of Rome. Traces of this still remain, and the tufa stones have been reused in Aurelian's work, whilst the Porta Chiusa is partly formed on the inside of these blocks, and was probably the work of the last of the Tarquins. The Porta S. Lorenzo, or Tiburtina, bears inscriptions of Augustus and Vespasian; Porta Maggiore, of Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus; whilst Porta Lateranensis and Porta Ardeatina were undoubtedly built, as the construction shows, by Nero; and the inner arch of the Porta S. Paolo, or Ostiensis, is of the time of Claudius. Tacitus (xii. 23) says: "The limits of the city were enlarged by Claudius. The right of directing that business was, by ancient usage, vested in all such as extended the boundaries of the empire. The right, however, had not been exercised by any of the Roman commanders (Sylla and Augustus excepted), though remote and powerful nations had been subdued by their victorious arms." "With regard to the enlargement made by Claudius, the curious may be easily satisfied, as the public records contain an exact description" (xii. 24).
- 75. ROMAN CONSTRUCTION. When we speak of construction, we mean the material used in building and the way it is put together. The different historical periods of building are now classed into distinct dates, which have been arrived at by observing the material used, and the way it is used, in buildings of which there is no doubt as to the date of erection, and comparing it with others. The early Greek Period in Italy is marked by massive walls of masonry—walls built from the stone of the vicinity, the blocks being rough as hewn out of the quarry,—polygonal. The later Greek Period and the Etruscan are identical, being formed of square blocks of stone, headers, and stretchers. In the time of the kings of Rome the stones were squared, and were of tufa, lapis ruber, tophus. In the earliest walls they are close jointed; in the second period the edges are bevelled. During the Republic the stones were also squared, but the material was of peperino. Lapis Albanus and other forms of working up the material were introduced. Pieces of stone, fixed together with cement, gave a new kind of wall called opus incertum. This was improved upon by facing the outside of the small pieces of stone and making them of one uniform size—small polygonal. Then the stones were cut into wedge shapes: the point being inwards, and being laid in regular rows it has the appearance of network, and is called opus reticulatum. This work, introduced in the last years of the Republic, went out of fashion after the time of Tiberius, but was revived by Hadrian, who always set his reticulated work in bands of brick like a picture frame, thus distinguishing his from the earlier work, the inside of the walls in those cases being concrete. The earliest brick building which we have is the Pantheon. Thus it was under Augustus
- 76. that brick was first used by the Romans. It was his boast that he found Rome of brick, and left it marble; which is only true in a certain sense, for he did not build of solid marble, but cased veneering marble on to the brickwork. One period of Roman brickwork can easily be distinguished from the others by measuring the number of bricks in a foot, and noticing their uniformity of size. This, of course, does not refer to ornamental brickwork. The brickwork of Nero is the best in the world—thin narrow bricks, tiles, with very little mortar between them. Before his time it was not quite so good; but after, it gradually declined till the cement is as thick as the bricks. The stone used during the Empire was travertine, lapis Tiburtinus, but brick was the material generally used then. They are of two colours, red and yellow, according to the clay from which they were made. The walls were not of solid brick all through; but the interior was made of pieces—rubble-work—the outside course being entire brick, whilst at every four or five feet all through the construction were laid the great tie-bricks to keep the rubble-work from shifting. The brickwork was called opus lateritium. The great tie-bricks are usually stamped with the names of the consul or emperor and the maker, and these date the walls by measuring the number of bricks there are in a foot. In the fourth century another system—opera decadence—came into vogue, and walls were built with layers of brick and pieces of tufa-stone a little larger than our English bricks. This work continued down to the thirteenth century, when opera Saracenesca—tufa-stones without the bricks between—came into use. In the stone walls no cement was used; one stone was simply placed upon another, its weight keeping it in its place, and clamps were inserted to keep it from shifting. In the walls of Roma Quadrata we know of no clamps having been found; but in the wall of the two kings wooden clamps were found. In the walls of Servius Tullius iron clamps were found; and in the Colosseum clamps can still be seen in several places where pieces of the facing of the stone have been split off.
- 77. Tufa is found all over the Campagna, and is of volcanic origin. When the Alban Hills were active volcanoes, the ashes and scoriæ thrown up fell into the sea, now the Campagna. The pressure of water on it formed it into stone: where there has been a great pressure, it is very hard; where little pressure, it is softer; and where there was no pressure, it still remains a sort of sand—this mixed with live lime is the celebrated Roman cement. The softer tufa was used by the Greek colonists, and the hard stone by the kings of Rome. Some tufa from the neighbourhood of Gabii is dark gray, the other is brown and reddish. Peperino is also volcanic. It was ejected in the shape of hot mud from the volcano, and on cooling formed a good stone: this comes from the Alban hills, and was used in the time of the Republic. Travertine comes from Tivoli, and is a petrifaction formed by the action of lime and sulphur on vegetable decay. This was not used as a building material to any great extent before the time of Cæsar. It is white, and becomes yellow on exposure. Silex is another volcanic stone very little used for building, but entirely for paving the roads both ancient and modern. This came out of the volcano as a red-hot stream of lava, and on cooling down became a capital paving material. The bed of the road was first properly prepared, and then it was paved with polygonal blocks of blue basalt called silex. The stones fitted close to one another. Many of the roads are in a good condition to this day; the best specimen is opposite the Temple of Saturn in the Forum, B.C. 175. This stone is used for opus reticulatum in some of the tombs on the Appian Way and at the Temple of Hercules; also for concrete. TABLE OF CONSTRUCTION. TUFA OF THE KINGS. STYLE. SPECIMEN. DATE. Polygonal Tusculum ——
- 78. Opus quadratum. First period, squared edges { Veii —— { Gabii —— { Palatine Hill 753 B.C. Second period, bevelled edges { Second Wall of Rome 746 B.C. { Aventine Hill 600 B.C. { Ostia 600 B.C. PEPERINO OF THE REPUBLIC. Opus quadratum { Tomb of Scipio 298 B.C. { Temple of Hope 240 B.C. Opus incertum Temple of Cybele 191 B.C. Opus incertum, polygonal Emporium 190 B.C. Opus quadratum Tabularium 78 B.C. TRAVERTINE AND BRICK OF THE EMPIRE. Opus quadratum { Tomb of Cecilia Metella 78 B.C. { Theatre of Marcellus 13 B.C. { Arch of Dolabella 10 A.D. { Colosseum 80 A.D. Opus reticulatum { Muro Morto 80 B.C. { Tomb of Augustus 10 B.C. { Palatine Tiberius' House ——
- 79. { Palatine Germanicus' House —— { Hadrian's Villa —— { Hadrian's Ostia —— Opus lateritium— Bricks, 6 to foot { Pantheon Augustus. { Prætorian Camp Tiberius. { Palace Caligula. Bricks, 8 to foot Aqueduct Nero. Bricks, 7 to foot Palace Domitian. Bricks, 6 to foot Temple of Venus and Rome Hadrian. Bricks, 7 to foot Nymphæum, on Palatine M. Aurelius. Bricks, 5 to foot { Baths Caracalla. { Nymphæum Alexander Severus. { Walls of Rome Aurelian. { Thermæ Diocletian. { Basilica Constantine. Bricks and tufa { Circus of Maxentius 300 A.D. { House of Gregory 590 A.D. Opera Saracenesca S. Sisto Vecchio 1200 A.D. Opus Spicatum Herring-bone pavement.
- 80. Opus Signinum Cement for reservoirs, etc. PLAN OF ANCIENT ROME View larger image.
- 81. RAMBLES IN ROME
- 82. RAMBLE I. PIAZZA DEL POPOLO—THE OBELISK—S. MARIA DEL POPOLO—THE CORSO—S. LORENZO IN LUCINA—POST OFFICE—ENGLISH CHURCH—COLUMN OF MARCUS AURELIUS—MONTE CITORIO—PARLIAMENT HOUSE—OBELISK— TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE—S. MARIA IN VIA LATA—THE SEPTA—THE DORIA GALLERY—TOMBS OF ATTIA CLAUDIA AND BIBULUS—THE MAMERTINE PRISON—THE FORUM OF JULIUS CÆSAR—THE ROMAN FORUM AND ITS RUINS—THE VIA SACRA—TEMPLES OF ROMULUS, VENUS AND ROMA— TEMPLE OF THE PENATES—HOUSE OF JULIUS CÆSAR—BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE—S. FRANCISCA ROMANA—THE PALATINE HILL AND THE PALACE OF THE CÆSARS—ARCH OF TITUS—THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN—THE FORUM OF CUPID—PEDESTAL OF NERO'S COLOSSUS—META SUDANS—ARCH OF CONSTANTINE—THE COLOSSEUM. THE CENTRE OF ROME.
- 83. PIAZZA DEL POPOLO. View larger image. THE PIAZZA DEL POPOLO is a circular open space, adorned with fountains, and surrounded with foliage. From this circle Rome spreads itself out like a fan southwards. The four principal lines of thoroughfare diverge from this spot—the Pincio, the Via Sistina, and the Via Quattro Fontane, leading to the Esquiline, on the extreme left, along the hills; the Via Babuino, leading into the Piazza di Spagna, on the left; the Corso, leading into the Forum, in the centre; and the Via Ripetta, leading into the oldest part of the present city, on the right: at the corners of the three latter are the twin churches S. Maria in Monte Santo, and S. Maria dei Miracoli, with domes and vestibules designed by Rinaldi, and completed by Bernini and Fontana. In the centre of the Piazza is an Egyptian obelisk, supported by a fountain with four lionesses at the corners spouting water. On the right, under the Terraces of the Pincio, are the statue of Rome by Ceccarini, of Neptune between two Tritons, and statues of Spring and Summer, by Laboureur. On the left are the statues of Autumn, by Stocchi, and Winter, by Baini. THE EGYPTIAN OBELISK of the Piazza del Popolo was brought to Rome by Augustus, and erected in the Circus Maximus. It is 78 feet 6 inches high, and was erected on its present site by Pope Sixtus V. in 1589. This was the first obelisk erected in Rome, having been brought by Augustus after the death of Antony and Cleopatra. Pliny (xxxvi. 16) says:— "But the most difficult enterprise of all was the carriage of these obelisks by sea to Rome, in vessels which excited the greatest admiration. Indeed, the late Emperor Augustus consecrated the one which brought over the first obelisk, as a lasting memorial of this
- 84. marvellous undertaking, in the docks at Puteoli; but it was destroyed by fire. "And then, besides, there was the necessity of constructing other vessels to carry these obelisks up the Tiber; by which it became practically ascertained that the depth of water in that river is not less than that of the river Nile. "The one that he erected in the Campus Martius is nine feet less in height, and was originally made by order of Sesothis. They are both of them covered with inscriptions which interpret the operations of Nature according to the philosophy of the Egyptians." This has the name of two kings upon it: Seti, who went blind, and his son Rameses, who succeeded him. It stood before the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and was placed by Augustus on the Spina of the Circus Maximus, and re-dedicated, 10 B.C., to the Sun, as the inscription informs us: IMP. CAES. DIVI. F.—AUGUSTUS—PONTIFEX MAXIMUS—IMP. XII. COS. XI. TRIB. POT.—POPULI ROMANI REDACTA.—SOLI DONUM DEDIT. Ammianus Marcellinus (xvii. 4) supplies us with the following information relative to obelisks:— "In this city of Thebes, among many works of art and different structures recording the tales relating to the Egyptian deities, we saw several obelisks in their places, and others which had been thrown down and broken, which the ancient kings, when elated at some victory or at the general prosperity of their affairs, had caused to be hewn out of mountains in distant parts of the world, and erected in honour of the gods, to whom they solemnly consecrated them. "Now, an obelisk is a rough stone, rising to a great height, shaped like a pillar in the stadium; and it tapers upwards in imitation of a sunbeam, keeping its quadrilateral shape, till it rises almost to a point, being made smooth by the hand of a sculptor.
- 85. "On these obelisks the ancient authority of elementary wisdom has caused innumerable marks of strange forms all over them, which are called hieroglyphics. "For the workmen, carving many kinds of birds and beasts, some even such as must belong to another world, in order that the recollection of the exploits which the obelisk was designed to commemorate might reach to subsequent ages, showed by them the accomplishment of vows which the kings had made. "For it was not the case then, as it is now, that the established number of letters can distinctly express whatever the human mind conceives; nor did the ancient Egyptians write in such a manner, but each separate character served for a separate noun or verb, and sometimes even for an entire sentence. "Of which fact the two following may for the present be sufficient instances:—By the figure of a vulture they indicate the name of nature; because naturalists declare that no males are found in this class of bird. And by the figure of a bee making honey they indicate a king; showing by such a sign that stings as well as sweetness are the characteristics of a ruler. And there are many similar emblems." To the right of the Porta del Popolo is the CHURCH OF S. MARIA DEL POPOLO, founded by Paschal II. in 1099. Its interior consists of nave, aisles, transept, and octagonal dome lavishly decorated by Bernini. In the first chapel, to the right, the picture over the altar, the Nativity of Jesus Christ, and the frescoes of the lunettes are by Pinturicchio. The second chapel is that of the Cibo family—rich in marbles, and adorned with forty-six columns of Sicilian jasper. The picture of the Conception is by Maratta. The third chapel is painted by Pinturicchio. In the fourth chapel is an interesting bas-relief of the fifteenth century. The painting of the Virgin, on the high altar, is one of those
- 86. attributed to S. Luke; the paintings of the vault in the choir are by Pinturicchio. The two monuments in marble ornamented by statues are by Contucci da S. Savino. The last chapel but one, in the small nave, is that of the Chigi family, and is one of the most celebrated in Rome. Raphael gave the design for the dome, for the paintings of the frieze, and for the picture of the altar, which was commenced by Sebastiano del Piombo, and terminated by Francesco Salviati. The statues of Daniel and Habakkuk were executed by Bernini. The front of the altar and the statues of Elias and Jonah are by Lorenzetti; but the design of the last is by Raphael. THE CORSO (Il Corso). Starting on our first ramble, we will take the line of the principal street, the Corso, which takes its name from the races held during the Carnival. It is on the line of the old Via Flaminia, the great highroad which ran through the Campus Martius to the north. Many handsome churches and palaces face the street, which is rather narrow compared with our modern requirements. The Corso is the principal promenade of the Romans, and possesses many points of interest. At No. 18, on the left, lived Goethe; just beyond, on the right, in the short Via S. Giacomo, was Canova's studio. On the right, further down, is the Church of S. Carlo; passing by which, crossing the line of the Via Condotti, on our right opens out the small square of S. Lorenzo, in which is the CHURCH OF S. LORENZO IN LUCINA, containing the grand work of Guido Reni, "The Crucifixion." It is said that, being absorbed in his subject, he crucified his model. The church contains a monument to Poussin, the relief being a copy of his landscape of the tomb of Sappho in Arcadia. Opposite this church is the English Baptist Chapel, under the Rev. James Wall, founded for Romans.
- 87. Turning to the right, down the Corso, on the left, the Via Convertite leads to THE GENERAL POST OFFICE (La Posta), in the Piazza S. Silvestro, on the left. It is a new building, recently opened, and is fitted up with every modern appliance. The garden in the centre, and the surrounding arcade with its frescoes, present a refreshing appearance, and give a good idea of what the court of a palace should be. Opposite, in the right corner of the square, is THE ENGLISH CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, being the first Protestant church erected in Rome. It is in the form of a basilica without aisles, and was designed by the late architect Cipolla. Regaining the Corso, we soon arrive at the Piazza Colonna, in which is THE COLUMN OF MARCUS AURELIUS. On the spot where the Palazzo Chigi now stands (on our right) a temple was erected to M. Aurelius, in front of which was placed a splendid pillar, with a spiral frieze winding up the shaft, and representing the chief incidents of the war against the Marcomanni (A.D. 174).
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