Women and Computer Based Technologies: A Feminist Perspective

This book highlights the diversity of professional women in education who use computer-based technologies. They represent differences in socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and age. They were selected for this study because they use computer based technologies in their daily work. The conceptual framework underlying this research is feminist standpoint theory. Standpoint theory in this study stems from the work of Harding (1991) who has grounded standpoint theory in eight claims. These claims were connected to clusters that were organized into segments that could be contrasted, compared and analyzed. Themes were developed and photographs were used to operationalize the cluster categories. Methodology used for this study included three structured interviews. The first interview elicited background information. Interview two used the photographs as an auto driving technique to stimulate discussion. The third interview asked the respondents to validate their narratives and to describe their reactions to the feminist perspective. Results of this study demonstrate the importance of valuing women's lives as starting points for research and as generators of evidence for or against knowledge claims-specifically as their lives relate to computer based technologies. Women need to learn to value and network with other women in the use of technology. These respondents' early learning experiences reflect the cultural agenda and an absence of 'hands on' science activities. They also encounter gender oppression in many forms in their daily life experiences. Although they all had opportunities to engage in computer learning at different stages of their life, the time to learn and the opportunities to access computers were constraints that prevented further advancement. These women educators predict positive futures for girls who are computer literate, but warn of the potential of the increasing power of technology to divide women in our society into the haves and the have-nots. Implications and practical applications from these findings are included in the study.