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A 2006 government report on Building Australian ICT Skills recommended a number of areas to be addressed by government, industry, and education and training providers. One of the recommendations was a call for research on ICT skills in schools so as to identify the factors that contribute to deterring students from considering ICT as an option for further study at university or technical college and as a career choice (DCITA, 2006). In Australia, females continue to be largely under-represented in ICT courses (10% to 30%) and ICT-based careers (under 20%), and the low participation rates have not improved in the past decade (Miliszewska, 2006; PartICipaTion Summit, 2005). Research suggests that ethnicity, race, and socio-economic status are related to low participation and attainment rates in ICT and, when gender and one of more of these factors are combined, there tends to be a cumulative effect (Blackmore, Hardcastle, Bamblett, & Owens, 2003). In response to the above issues, a research investigation was launched to examine the perceptions of female students from secondary schools in the Western Metropolitan Region of Melbourne towards ICT, ICT studies, and careers; students in this region have been identified as suffering from "entrenched educational disadvantage" (Teese, 2006). The research aimed to: * Examine attitudes and perceptions of the participating girls towards ICT careers and the skills perceived to be necessary to succeed in such careers; * Investigate attitude differences related to ethnic background, year level, participation in ICT subjects, and coeducational versus all-girls schools with respect to computer usage and computer careers; and, * Identify factors that influence female students' attitudes towards ICT and ICT careers. It is now generally acknowledged by the government, business, employers, and the education and training sectors that there is an urgent need for improved targeting of information and advice on ICT studies and careers to students including secondary school students, with a particular goal to capturing girls' interest. To develop effective strategies to improve the advice, research is needed to first identify and debate key issues including female students' perception about the nature and scope of ICT work and occupations; the findings of this research may inform this identification and debate. Literature Review Low participation of women among the designers and creators of information technology has serious consequences, not only for women who are "missing the educational and economic opportunities that are falling into the laps of computer-savvy young men" (Margolis & Fisher, 2002, p. 2), but also for a society increasingly influenced by technology. In the literature pertaining to women's under-representation in the ICT sector, a number of possible factors, such as geography, economy, cultural factors, race, and ethnicity, have been identified as having influence on girls' ICT career decisions (Trauth, 2006). In general, girls tend to report lower levels of interest in computers and lower levels of confidence in their abilities (Grass-Valazquez, Joyce, & Derby, 2009; Hargittai & Shafer, 2006; Volman & van Eck, 2001; Volman, van Eck, Heemskerk, & Kuiper, 2005). Some authors suggested that girls perceive ICT careers as boring, very technical, "nerdy,, and "geeky" (Babin, Grant, & Sawal, 2008; Courtney, Timms, & Anderson, 2006; Margolis & Fisher, 2002). Others reported that females' choice of ICT courses or careers may be influenced by their intrinsic interest in computing as a field of study (Courtney et al., 2006), early exposure to computers, gender stereotypes (Adya & Kaiser, 2005; Trauth, 2002; Volman & van Eck, 2001; von Hellens & Nielsen, 2005; von Hellens, Nielsen, & Trauth, 2001), early exposure to advanced computing subjects (Craig, Fisher, & Lang, 2007), and girls' abilities in mathematics and science (Margolis & Fisher, 2002; Volman & van Eck, 2001). …

Interest in ICT Studies and Careers: Perspectives of Secondary School Female Students from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds