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The project
on Women and Computer Science, undertaken in 1996 within the Leonardo
da Vinci European Programme and carried out by C.E.R.A. (Italy),
C.E.R.E.D.E.M. (France), Sonar (Italy) and the Anthropology Department
of Goldsmiths College, University of London (Great Britain), has
now been completed. The aim of the project was to verify the existence
of gender differences concerning access to and the
modes of use of new information technologies. In particular, the
research focused on issues relating to education, work and the
use of leisure time. On the basis of the results of a preliminary
survey, the researchers turned their attention to focus on information
technology training courses to explore the different teaching
methodologies used in Italy, Great Britain and France.
One of the most innovative
features of the project was the use of a number of different research
methodologies to approach this complex phenomenon. In particular,
the project resorted to the research methods of visual anthropology,
filming interviews and training situations in the three European
countries involved in the project.
A 30-minute video
was produced from approximately 10 hours of film material. This,
together with the statistical surveys, detailed interviews with
instructors, teachers and advanced users of new information technologies
and the anthropological analysis of the material, provides a useful
outline of the extent and implications of the gender gap in the
use of N.I.T. This gap is a problem that often goes unnoticed
- paradoxically, by women as well as men. The video illustrates
and summarises the themes of the entire project and provides an
effective tool capable of communicating the relevant issues to
a wide audience. Although the research was conducted according
to strict scientific procedures, the language is deliberately
non-specialist. Nor does it intend to fulfil an immediate didactical
purpose although it will undoubtedly be useful for schools and
training courses. The purpose of the video is neither to provide
an a priori interpretation nor to indicate 'good practice'. Instead,
it offers male and female instructors and teachers and women students
a chance to express themselves. Images and voices, a certain 'mirror
effect' and the use of film to convey the issues provide effective
means to encourage us to look at the problem from different perspectives.
These are the first
steps towards the achievement of a more ambitious proposal to
bring about changes in the current situation. Starting from the
by no means self-evident awareness of women's difficult relation
to N.I.Ts, the search for solutions would have to take on board
many levels: the family, the school, university and training institutions,
work environments and the very process of production of the new
technologies.
Schools,
universities, research and education centres can apply to
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A
problem denied?
Is technology neutral?
Reasons for using a computer
Playing seriously
The first encounter with the machine
The image of the computer
Approaches to learning
Educational issues
Women
and Computing
by
Victoria Goddard and Mara Benetti
Goldsmiths' College
Bibliography
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