Internet review

Citation

Crowston, K. (2002), "Internet review", Information Technology & People, Vol. 15 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/itp.2002.16115bag.001

Internet review

The articles in this special issue all relate to gender and information technology. In this column, I will discuss Web resource related to two aspects of this topic, women in information technology professions and information technology in the home.

There has long been concern about the representation of women in computer science. As long ago as 1990, Communications of the ACM published a report entitled "Becoming a computer scientist: a report by the ACM committee on the status of women in computing science" (http://cpsr.org/cpsr/gender/becoming.comp.sci). ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) still has a committee on women in computer science (http://www.acm.org/women/). This group's mission is "to engage in activities and projects that aim to improve the working and learning environments for women in computing. This includes promoting activities that result in more equal representation of women in CS such as mentoring or role modeling, monitoring the status of women in industrial and academic computing through the gathering of statistics, providing historical information about women's accomplishments and roles in CS, and serving as a repository of information about programs, documents and policies of concern to women in CS."

Similarly, the Computing Research Association has a committee on the status of women in computing research (CRA-W, http://cra.org/Activities/craw/). Their goal is "to take positive action to increase the number of women participating in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) research and education at all levels". More generally, the Committee on Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE) was established in 1991 as a standing committee of the National Research Council (NRC) (http://www4.nas.edu/osep/cwse.nsf), reflecting concerns about the under-representation of women in technology in general.

Concern is not restricted to the USA. WiTEC (Women in Science, Engineering and Technology) is a European network with operations in 12 European countries, including WiTEC UK (http://www.shu.ac.uk/witec/), based in Sheffield Hallam University. This group's projects aim "to redress the balance of women studying and working in science, engineering and technology". The Community Affairs Board (CAB) of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) has a committee on women in technology (http://www.acs.org.au/boards/cab/wittr.html).

There has been some research on the under-representation of women in information technology professions. As Trauth notes, the National Science Foundation in the USA has reported on the women working in IT professions, based on two virtual workshops it sponsored. The NSF site includes a press release on the studies (http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/00/pr0040.htm). The NSF offers two reports, one entitled "Research foundations for improving the representation of women in the information technology workforce" (http://www.interact.nsf.gov/cise/html.nsf/Pages/6B4BEC964D5BB8A8852568AF00744203), and the other, "Seeking solutions for increasing women and minorities in information technology" (http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/tcw/events_991104w/3.htm). Those interested in this topic may be interested in the NSF program on Information Technology Workforce (ITWF) (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2001/nsf0133/nsf0133.htm), which welcomes research proposals related to the under-representation of women and minorities in the IT workforce.

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (http://www.gracehopper.org/) is a conference designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. The fourth conference will be held in Vancouver, 9-12 October 2002.

Several universities have research centres, such as the Centre for Women and Information Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (http://www.umbc.edu/cwit/). Echoing some of the articles in this issue, the site notes that "Women are still seriously under-represented as developers of IT, and they are often not well served as IT users." The site includes curricular resources, lists of books, news articles and links to other sites (http://www.umbc.edu/cwit/related.html). The Harvard University Graduate School of Education has a program on Women in Technology (http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~wit/), which "brings together individuals of diverse backgrounds, interests, experiences, knowledge, and understanding of technology and being female".

In addition to these research groups, there are numerous support groups for women working in information technology. Some are based in Universities, such as Stanford's Women in Computer Science (http://www-cs-students.Stanford.EDU/~womencs/), an organization within the Stanford Computer Science Department whose purpose is "to support and promote women in computer science by raising awareness of issues they face and fostering communication". Many others are independent, such as Association for Women in Computing (http://www.awc-hq.org/), a national non-profit professional organization for women and men who have an interest in information technology. Founded in 1978, the Association is "dedicated to the advancement of women in the technology fields through networking, education, and outreach". This association has local chapters, such as the Upstate New York Chapter (http://www.awc-uny.org/). The Institute for Women and Technology (http://www.iwt.org/home.html) has as its mission "to increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology and to increase the positive impact of technology on the lives of the world's women". There are many others, each with its niche:

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  DigitalEve (http://www.digitaleve.org/), a global, non-profit organization for women in new media and digital technology.

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  LinuxChix (http://www.linuxchix.org/), a more hospitable community in which people can discuss Linux, a community that encourages participation.

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  MentorGirls (http://www.mentorgirls.org/), a grass-roots, community outreach program connecting women in industry with girls in communities and schools.

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  Systers (http://www.systers.org/), an informal organization for technical women in computing.

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  Webgrrls (http://www.webgrrls.com/), a forum for women in or interested in new media and technology to network, mentor and teach, intern and learn the skills to help women succeed.

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  Wired Women Society (http://www.wiredwoman.com/), with chapters in five Canadian cities, "encourages women to explore opportunities in technology and to build successful careers that will allow them to play a positive role in the growth and development of the information age".

I now turn briefly to the topic of domestication of information technology. The study of technology in the home is an interesting one with a long history. For example, historians have examined the effects of domestic technology on the work of homemakers (see http://englishwww.humnet.ucla.edu/individuals/eng188/lazo/housework.html for a brief review). The Research Centre for Social Sciences at University of Edinburgh focuses upon the social shaping of technology, particularly in relation to Information and Communications Technologies. Their site includes an overview of their research. Finally, Leslie Regan Shade at University of Ottawa, Dept of Communication has lecture notes on "A gendered perspective on access to the information infrastructure", including sections on the domestication of cyberspace (http://courseweb.edteched.uottawa.ca/cmn2170/gender4domestic.htm). Professor Shade's notes includes a list of resources (http://courseweb.edteched.uottawa.ca/cmn2170/genderinfo.htm).

Other helpful lists of Web resources include:

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  Computing professionals for Social Responsibility's gender page (http://www.cpsr.org//program/gender/index.html)

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  Women and gender studies science and technology Web sites (http://libraries.mit.edu/humanities/WomensStudies/Tech2.html), developed and maintained by the Women's Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

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  Women-focused cyberculture and Internet information (http://research.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/links_net.html) by Joan Korenman of University of Maryland.

As always, you can avoid having to retype these links by starting from the on-line version at http://crowston.syr.edu/itip/. Be careful! Small mistakes in typing some of these URLs will lead to unexpected sites (and sights).

Kevin Crowston