Computer Science, Gender and Knowledge: Situated Readings
| Document type: | Bookchapters |
|---|---|
| Peer reviewed: | Yes |
| Author(s): | Christina Björkman |
| Title: | Computer Science, Gender and Knowledge: Situated Readings |
| Translated title: | Datavetenskap, genus och kunskap: situerade läsningar |
| Book: | How do we make a difference? |
| Year: | 2003 |
| Pagination: | pp. 157-174 |
| Editor: | Christina Mörtberg, Pirjo Elovaara, Agneta Lundgren |
| ISBN: | 91-972568-9-7 |
| Publisher: | Division Gender and Technology, Luleå University of Technology |
| City: | Luleå |
| Organization: | Blekinge Institute of Technology |
| Department: | Department of Human Work Science, Media Technology and Humanities (Institutionen för arbetsvetenskap, medieteknik och humaniora) Department of Human Work Science, Media Technology and Humanities, Box 520, 372 25 Ronneby +46 455 38 50 00 http://www.iar.bth.se/ |
| Authors e-mail: | Christina.Bjorkman@bth.se |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | A text is read, interpreted and comprehended in different ways, depending on for example the perspectives of the reader. As a reader I take an active part in the creation of meaning when I interact with the text and so also, indirectly, with the author(s). In this paper I explore what I call situated readings, using the concept of partial perspectives in reading a text. I will read a text on women and computer science, an article from Communications of the ACM 1997. This article has gained a lot of attention and is still frequently cited within the community of computer scientists. This reading exercise reflects my own development, in that I explicitly try to make use of my background and experiences. I am a lecturer in computer science, and for a number of years I have been interested in questions and issues surrounding the under-representation of women within computer science and in the various different attempts to define, describe and suggest solutions to this ‘problem’. I have gone from taking part in, and actively leading, projects targeting women within CS, to an interest in trying to gain a complex understanding of this issue and challenging existing frameworks and explanations. The reading will reflect how my questions mainly concerning the low number of women in CS have evolved, as a result of experience and later from feminist studies, into other questions, approaching “the science question” (Harding 1986). |
| Subject: | Technoscience Studies\General |
