Gender And Technology In The Making

"The authors follow the microwave's life trajectory from the design office to the factory and thence to the shops and household. Examining the different jobs women and men do, the different kinds of knowlege they contribute and the unequal importance they are ascribe in the evloution of the microwave, this book shows how technology relations continue to disadvantage women"--Back cover.

This collection of articles from Gender and Development considers technologies of many kinds, including those intended to save womens labour, to enable them to control their fertility and to learn and communicate using computer technology.

McGaw; Joy Parr, Simon Fraser University.

Science has been gender biased for centuries across cultural contexts. Different ideological constructions of gender through different eras have restricted women's access to science. The twentieth century, especially its second half, witnessed certain important changes in terms of women's status in society. Gender and Science: Studies across Cultures includes essays by leading academics and researchers from different parts of the world, who discuss gender and science in their society and explore the relevance of gender theories. The book is divided into two broad sections. The first section provides conceptual reflections on gendered science and the second section examines the gender-science relationship using examples from various cultural contexts. This unique volume tries to answer several important questions such as these: Could science become free from gender biases? Could gender and science issues go beyond race, class, colonization and social and geographical distinctions? Are gender and science relations universal as assumed by the 'ethos of science' or vary with the culture? The book also tries to strike a balance between analyses of the gender dimension of science itself and the role of the wider social, economic and cultural factors. This interdisciplinary volume will be an important resource for graduate students and research scholars of gender studies, social history, psychology and sociology. Those interested in gender and science as well as cross-cultural issues will also find this book useful.

How can information technology (IT) paradigms and design processes be studied from a gender perspective? What does IT design look like when its construction is informed by gender research? Though gender research and computing science seem like two separate worlds, this book proves how inspirational a confrontation and combination of those worlds can be. A deconstructive analysis of advanced fields of computing shows the multiple ways in which software design is gendered and how gendering effects are produced by its use. Concepts and assumptions underlying research and development, along with design tools and IT products, teaching methods and materials are studied. The book not only offers a gender analysis of information society technologies, it also shows practical examples of how IT can be different. A gender perspective on IT design can serve as an eye-opener for what tends to be overlooked and left out. It yields innovative ideas and high quality software systems that may empower a large diversity of users for an active participation in our information society.

New products, new production processes: are they bringing equality to the lives of women and men? This text presents studies of the design, production, distribution and use of household technologies. As the innovations progress they reveal masculinity and femininity, power and subordination.

The Information Society is evolving, with new 'ensembles' of social practices and of information and communication technologies (ICTs) emerging all the time. But not everyone is equally included. Breaking new ground with a focus on inclusion, and drawing on an extensive body of European research, this book analyzes a range of strategies that have succeeded in attracting more women and girls as users or designers of ICTs. The book reveals a set of underlying dynamics - what the authors call technologies of inclusion - by which different strategies work. It also highlights new gender-ICT ensembles which challenge the long-held notions of technology as a masculine domain. Technologies of Inclusion is a must read for scholars interested in shifting gender-technology relations, for practitioners interested in effective digital inclusion, and, indeed, for anyone interested in the evolving project of the Information Society.