Influences of Gender and Socioeconomic Status on Children’s Use of Robotics in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: This review focuses on the use of robotics in early childhood education (ECE), addressing gender and socioeconomic status (SES) differences in young children’s robotics learning. This review systematically evaluates, synthesizes, and displays the research designs, robotic toys, data collection instruments, research methods, and research findings of 15 studies related to this critical issue published from 1984 to 2021. The findings of the review indicate that children’s robotics-based learning is impacted by gender and their socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Boys had a considerably higher level of enjoyment in interacting with robotics than girls. Furthermore, low-income families and low parental education resulted in poor robotics-based learning experiences and outcomes for children. Practice or Policy: It is significant to devote attention to developing effective and inclusive robotics education programs for girls and children from less advantaged backgrounds. More robotics education interventions should be conducted in broader contexts to benefit a wider range of children, especially those from a lower-SES background.

Disclosure Statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Statements On Ethics And Conflicts

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.