Zorn / Maass / Schelhowe Gender Designs IT

Construction and Deconstruction of Information Society Technology
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-3-531-90295-1
Verlag: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 190 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Studien Interdisziplinäre Geschlechterforschung

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.



Isabel Zorn, Prof. Dr. Susanne Maass, Carola Schirmer, and Prof. Dr. Heidi Schelhowe work in computing science, digital media design, and gender studies at Bremen University, Germany. Dr. Els Rommes works at the Institute for Gender Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zorn, Isabel

Schelhowe, Heidi

Maass, Susanne

Rommes, Els

Schirmer, Carola

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;6
2;I Introduction;9
2.1;Gender Research and IT Construction: Concepts for a Challenging Partnership;10
2.1.1;1 Information Society Technology – New Opportunities for Everyone?;10
2.1.2;2 Gender Studies Approaches to Information Society Technology;13
2.1.3;3 Socially Oriented Software Design;19
2.1.4;4 Gender Research and Computing Science: Combining Deconstruction, Construction and Empowerment;23
2.1.5;References;29
2.1.6;Acknowledgements;33
2.2;The United Nations World Summit on the Information Society: Empowering Women as Shapers of the Information Society?;34
2.2.1;1 Feminist Input for WSIS;35
2.2.2;2 Feminist Achievements at WSIS and Their Limits;40
2.2.3;3 The Universalized Male WSIS Agenda;44
2.2.4;4 Conclusion;47
2.2.5;References;49
3;II Analysis and Deconstruction;53
3.1;‘Social’ Robots & ‘Emotional’ Software Agents: Gendering Processes and De-Gendering Strategies for ‘Technologies in the Making’;54
3.1.1;Introduction;54
3.1.2;1 The Vision of Sociable or Socially Intelligent Robots and Software Agents;55
3.1.3;2 Anthropomorphism and Gendering;56
3.1.4;3 Feminist Critique of Technology: Against Abstraction;57
3.1.5;4 De-gendering Technologies: Dimensions and Strategies of Critique;61
3.1.6;References;63
3.2;Ambient Intelligence, between Heaven and Hell. A Transformative Critical Room?;66
3.2.1;1 The Short Term Future of Ambient Intelligence;66
3.2.2;2 The Visions of Industry and Designers;67
3.2.3;3 The Justification for AmI: Security and Care;68
3.2.4;4 Questioning gender;70
3.2.5;5 Use and Design;72
3.2.6;6 The transformative critical room of AmI;74
3.2.7;7 Conclusion of the Deconstruction: Critical Transformative Rooms;75
3.2.8;References;77
3.3;Feminist Technoscience Rearranging in the Black Box of Information Technology;80
3.3.1;Introduction;80
3.3.2;Problematic Boundaries in the “Engine Rooms of Technological Production”;82
3.3.3;Challenging Boundaries;84
3.3.4;Interventions;84
3.3.5;Discussion;92
3.3.6;References;93
4;III Construction of Information Society Technology;97
4.1;Uncovering the Invisible: Gender-Sensitive Analysis of Call Center Work and Software;98
4.1.1;1 Call Center Work: What Analysis Methods Reveal;100
4.1.2;2 Evaluating Software for Interactive Service Work;104
4.1.3;3 Conclusions;107
4.1.4;References;109
4.2;E-Empowerment of Heterogeneous Feminist Networks;110
4.2.1;1 From Determining Artefacts to Interacting Actants;110
4.2.2;2 E-Empowerment in German Feminist Networks;112
4.2.3;3 From Platforms to Neighbourhoods;115
4.2.4;4 Conclusions;119
4.2.5;References;120
4.2.6;Acknowledgements;121
4.3;Implicit/Explicit Alliances between Gender and Technology in the Construction of Virtual Networks;122
4.3.1;1 Gender in the Design of ICT – Theoretical Considerations;123
4.3.2;2 Qualitative analysis of developers´ process knowledge;124
4.3.3;3 Constructive practices – three dimensions;126
4.3.4;4 Conclusion – Methodological Considerations;131
4.3.5;References;131
5;IV Education and Empowerment for the Information Society;134
5.1;Bridging Disciplines: Gender Studies and Computer Science in an E- Learning Course;136
5.1.1;1 Theoretical Background: Gender, Technology and E-Learning;136
5.1.2;2 Courses on Gender and E-Learning: Concepts and Results;140
5.1.3;3 Gender in e-learning: some primary conclusions;145
5.1.4;References;146
5.2;Computer Games: Playing Gender, Reflecting on Gender;150
5.2.1;Gendered Technologies: The Case of Computer Games;150
5.2.2;FemCity: A Gender-Inclusive Computer Game to Teach Feminism;153
5.2.3;Results of testing phase;156
5.2.4;Lessons Learned from FemCity;158
5.2.5;References;159
5.3;LogoGo – An Approach to the Design of Girl-Specific Educational Software;162
5.3.1;1 Computing and Media Interests of Girls and Young Women;162
5.3.2;2 The Development of LogoGo;168
5.3.3;3 Concluding Remarks;173
5.3.4;4 Acknowledgments;173
5.3.5;References;173
5.4;Robotics and Gender: The Use of Robotics for the Empowerment of Girls in the Classroom;176
5.4.1;0 Introduction;176
5.4.2;1 The Practice of Robotics Courses;177
5.4.3;2 Evaluation Design and Data Basis;178
5.4.4;3 Empowerment through Influence on Student Confidence and Orientation;179
5.4.5;4 The Didactical Treatment of Gendered Material: “…the boys' ideas were dominating and they all centered round wheels”;183
5.4.6;5 Conclusion;187
5.4.7;References;188
6;About the Authors;190

Gender Research and IT Construction: Concepts for a Challenging Partnership.- The United Nations World Summit on the Information Society: Empowering Women as Shapers of the Information Society?.- Analysis and Deconstruction.- ’social’ Robots & ‘Emotional’ Software Agents: Gendering Processes and De-Gendering Strategies for ‘Technologies in the Making’.- Ambient Intelligence, between Heaven and Hell. A Transformative Critical Room?.- Feminist Technoscience Rearranging in the Black Box of Information Technology.- Construction of Information Society Technology.- Uncovering the Invisible: Gender-Sensitive Analysis of Call Center Work and Software.- E-Empowerment of Heterogeneous Feminist Networks.- Implicit/Explicit Alliances between Gender and Technology in the Construction of Virtual Networks.- Education and Empowerment for the Information Society.- Bridging Disciplines: Gender Studies and Computer Science in an E-Learning Course.- Computer Games: Playing Gender, Reflecting on Gender.- LogoGo — An Approach to the Design of Girl-Specific Educational Software.- Robotics and Gender: The Use of Robotics for the Empowerment of Girls in the Classroom.

Leseproben

Gender Research and IT Construction: Concepts for a Challenging Partnership (p. 9)

Susanne Maass, Els Rommes, Carola Schirmer, Isabel Zorn

We, the representatives of the peoples of the world, (…) declare our common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This Declaration of Principles for Information Society was made during the UN World Summit of the Information Society in Geneva 20031. Current transformations towards the Information Society are affecting professional and private lives, individual and societal interactions, economic and educational directions and technological developments.

Or, to put it the other way around: New technologies and in particular information and communication technologies offer a multitude of opportunities for transformations in the mentioned (and many more) fields. To emphasize this close connection the EU used the term ‘Information Society Technology’ (IST) in their 6th Framework and put forth the IST Vision: anywhere anytime natural access to IST services for all.

1 Information Society Technology – New Opportunities for Everyone?

Notwithstanding the ideological goals of creating an ‘inclusive’ Information Society for ‘everyone’, the chances offered by Information Society are unequally distributed, e.g. by country, class, ethnicity – and by gender, the very aspect this book will focus on. Equal opportunity is the agreed-upon goal of WSIS participants. With respect to gender, the EU set out to accomplish equal opportunity by its so-called ‘gender mainstreaming’ strategy.

This means that political actors need to assess the potential consequences of any decision for women and men, including those concerning implementation strategies for Information Society Technologies. Access to and ability to use IST are the prerequisites for participation in many of today’s social, cultural, political or economic activities.

Lack of opportunity as well as individual abstinence, both have the same effects: being a ‘nonuser’ of computers or the Internet means to be excluded from large parts of society, so inequalities in access and use are highly problematic. On top of this, involvement in IST design is a highly prestigious activity. Information technology business offers positions of power and good incomes for those with the appropriate (technical) education and enough self-confidence.

With respect to sex we currently find inequalities of various kinds. On a global scale the kind and quantity of IST use still differs widely.

Women’s access to Internet technology is generally lower than men’s, and this is true not only for the South but also for the North (except for the US): According to the SIGIS report, in January 2002 women in France, Germany, UK, Norway, Denmark and Sweden accounted for about 40-45% of all Internet users, with women in Italy and Spain just below 40% (Stewart 2002, 5).

Über Autor(innen)

Isabel Zorn, Prof. Dr. Susanne Maass, Carola Schirmer, and Prof. Dr. Heidi Schelhowe work in computing science, digital media design, and gender studies at Bremen University, Germany. Dr. Els Rommes works at the Institute for Gender Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.