Exploring the Representation of Women Perspectives in Technologies

Abstract

Technology has a profound mediating effect on the way we relate, obtain knowledge, and contribute to society. Given the impact and potential ramifications of technology on our society, it is imperative that both masculine and feminine perspectives are included in shaping our modern day technologies. This panel focuses on the representation of women perspectives in technologies we design, analyze, and use. There are many barriers when it comes to getting women perspectives into system designs such as: the small amount of HCI gender research currently in the literature, the lack of analysis of gender-agnostic software tools which fit female problem-solving approaches, and low grant support for research which looks at the representation of the feminists' perspective in our current discourse. This panel will address these barriers with respect to the tools and technologies we experience and design.