Female Inferiority in Technology
In today’s world, where information and knowledge are within our reach through various mobile devices and technologies, there exists a peculiar (but clear) kind of oppression regarding the digital frontier: women. The countless tech start-up companies located in Silicon Valley consist of primarily men. People on the Internet joke about the lack of women in the science- technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career fields. Why is this a thing? Why is it that men dominate the technological workforce?
When it comes to technology, women are less willing to publicly display their opinion to the public. “... surveys suggest that less than 15 percent of its hundreds of thousands of contributors are women,” says Noam Cohen in his article “Define Gender Gap? Look Up Wikipedia’s Contributor List.” Given the surveys, he proceeds to rant about the lack of female contributors to Wikipedia articles, In fact, a 85-to-15 ratio between men and women in terms of online contributions in common, according to the OpEd …show more content…
The science and math departments (as well as computer studies) are typically taught by males, as opposed to women teaching other subjects like English or the arts. “In our society the computer has become socially constructed as a male domain; children learn from an early age to associate computers with boys and men,” discussed Wajcman. Machines are believed to be of “masculine” behavior, in which computers and technology itself are interconnected with machinery. This connection thus creates the underlying assumption that “computers are just for the boys.” In the case that women are actually interested in the STEM field, boys tend to aggressively pursue computer time and deplete available supplies for women. The educational system reinforces female inferiority by alienating women from technology to the point that they no longer have the will to pursue a career in
In today’s world, where information and knowledge are within our reach through various mobile devices and technologies, there exists a peculiar (but clear) kind of oppression regarding the digital frontier: women. The countless tech start-up companies located in Silicon Valley consist of primarily men. People on the Internet joke about the lack of women in the science- technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career fields. Why is this a thing? Why is it that men dominate the technological workforce?
When it comes to technology, women are less willing to publicly display their opinion to the public. “... surveys suggest that less than 15 percent of its hundreds of thousands of contributors are women,” says Noam Cohen in his article “Define Gender Gap? Look Up Wikipedia’s Contributor List.” Given the surveys, he proceeds to rant about the lack of female contributors to Wikipedia articles, In fact, a 85-to-15 ratio between men and women in terms of online contributions in common, according to the OpEd …show more content…
The science and math departments (as well as computer studies) are typically taught by males, as opposed to women teaching other subjects like English or the arts. “In our society the computer has become socially constructed as a male domain; children learn from an early age to associate computers with boys and men,” discussed Wajcman. Machines are believed to be of “masculine” behavior, in which computers and technology itself are interconnected with machinery. This connection thus creates the underlying assumption that “computers are just for the boys.” In the case that women are actually interested in the STEM field, boys tend to aggressively pursue computer time and deplete available supplies for women. The educational system reinforces female inferiority by alienating women from technology to the point that they no longer have the will to pursue a career in