Gender Differences in AI Literacy Workshop Outcomes and Deepfake Engagement
For K-12 educators and curriculum designers, this work highlights the need for gender-responsive AI curricula and demonstrates that even short interventions can reduce gender disparities in STEM aspirations.
This study examines gender differences in AI literacy, safety awareness, and STEM career aspirations among Australian secondary students before and after a one-day AI literacy workshop. Results show that while both genders improved in AI knowledge, females demonstrated wider conceptual gains and increased career interest, partially narrowing the gender STEM gap, whereas males were more likely to have engaged with deepfake content.
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy initiatives expand in K-12 settings, understanding how gender shapes student baseline perceptions, tool-use, and responsiveness to interventions is essential for equitable curriculum design. This study examines gender differences in AI literacy, safety awareness, and STEM career aspirations among Australian secondary students (Years 7, 8, and 10; N(pre) = 199, n(post) = 136) from two co-educational government schools who participated in a one-day AI literacy workshop. Using statistical regression methods controlling for year level and school, we found that pre-workshop, male students reported significantly higher STEM career interest across all three domains (AI, computer science, and engineering), while female students were significantly more likely to use AI for schoolwork and to seek advice from AI tools. Gender-differentiated patterns also emerged in deepfake behaviours: males were significantly more likely to have created or shared deepfake content. Both genders improved in AI knowledge post-intervention, yet females showed a richer profile of gains: wider conceptual understanding, greater confidence, and meaningful increases in AI and CS career interest that partially narrowed the gender STEM gap. These findings highlight the need for gender-responsive AI curricula, particularly deepfake safety education for male students, and demonstrate that even single-day workshops can narrow gender gaps in STEM aspirations and AI confidence.