6: Gender and Technology

Survey the internet god/ess' (Wikipedia) entry on Feminism. Then, using a similar approach/format, construct an encyclopedic type reference that uses either reading as the primary text. Hint: choose the primary POINT that you want to make, based on the argument present in either/both readings and then give evidence from either/both readings to support that point, including any secondary points. If you have NEVER written a wikipedia entry before, the best thing you can do is READ a few to get an idea of the form/shape they take. The entry should be no longer than 250 words.

Gender disparity in IT

Gender disparity, that is, the lack of an unequal ratio of males and females, is often framed as a “problem” to be solved, especially in relationship to the field of Information Technology (IT). The reasons for disparity (and by extension, the possible solution for the disparity) are highly dependent on the ideological standpoint upon which one begins from. Some examples of ideological framing of gender disparity include:

Gender Equity Discourse

Larger numbers of males working in IT is due to the ways in which males are more likely to feel comfortable and/or empowered to work with computers. Because males dominate the IT industry it is understood that the industry also privileges “male” forms of interaction with computers, perpetuating a continuing cycle in which females (and female ways of knowing) are largely ignored by IT (for example hard/male vs. female/soft mastery of computers [1]). This interpretation has been critiqued for essentialising gender differences and that the disparity can be reversed with simple interventions [2] such as increasing funding to encourage women to choose IT related university programs.

Critical Discourse

Rather than essentialising gender into a male/female binary, this view is much more likely to view the disparity to be a result of longstanding systemic issues, especially in early education. In this view, the problem is seen more broadly, stemming from the social construction of IT being a masculine domain. Solutions to the disparity come in the form of rethinking education and widening the scope of what ‘counts’ as IT-related knowledge and expertise [2].

Works Cited:

1. Turkle, S. (1984). The Second Self: computers and the human spirit. New York: Simon and Schuster.

2. Abbis, J. (2008). Rethinking the 'Problem' of Gender and IT Schooling: Discourses in the literature. Gender & Education. 20(2) 153-165.