Tech 98 / Engr 98: Women & Technology

Read She’s Such a Geek, first four parts. As I said in class, look for experiences or situations that affect how these women are treated in the field.  Do you see evidence of the themes and issues we’ve been discussing? What events encouraged these women?  Discouraged?

If you want to know more about these women, check out the She’s Such a Geek blog. See the list of “Contributors” in the right column that link to their current work, websites, etc.  The blog includes links to other women scientist blogs, and general info/events about women in science.

See inside the cylinder of a four-stroke engine at 1000 fps…very cool, the four basic steps of intake, compression, power, exhaust.

I.  Unlocking Discussants, ch. 4-6:
Ashley Lindsay, Lyndsay Haack, Victor Mantilla, Bryan Wong

II. Masculinity.  Next week we’ll talk a bit about technology as masculine culture.  To set that up, we need to think about what we mean by “masculinity.”

This video Tough Guise is by Jackson Katz, who challenges us to think about how ideas of masculinity affect us (study guide here)

Next week’s reading is She’s Such A Geek – a fun collection of writing by women in the Sciences.  Please read the first four sections: “growing up nerd,” “high tech,” “in the lab,” and “geek, interrupted”.  As you read, please keep in mind the issues we’ve discussed the last two week.  Do you see these reflected in these young women’s writings?

1.  Wednesday discussion:    Lyndsay Haack, Ashley Lindsay, Victor Mantilla, Michaela Nealy, Bryan Wong

2.  Announcements – events, Windows7  &  extra credit

3.  Seven-minute Freewrite -

What factors influence  the participation and achievement of women and girls in computing?   Give specific examples.  Have you seen any of these personally?

4.  Lecture – Technology & Gender Socialization

I.  Pay your fees!

II. Review/lecture

III. Unlocking the Clubhouse discussants:
Taylor Vanden Broek, Kylie Santo, Kristie Metz

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Factoids for the day:

• Boys up to four times more likely to have autism, ADD, and dyslexia

• Girls twice as likely as boys to suffer depression, anxiety, and eating disorders

• Boys 73% more likely to die in accidents, twice as likely to be victims of violent crimes (AfrAm males 6x?).

• Girls are twice as likely to attempt suicide, but boys are three times likelier to succeed at it.

• Girls of all ages get better grades than boys, yet…

• boys continue to score 25 points higher on SAT,

• males outnumber females 4:1 in college engineering degrees.