Abstract
With the spread and advent of ever newer technologies, computing and information technology is one of the fastest growing labor markets around the globe. In this growing industry, however, many academics and commentators have noted the relative absence of women, positing why this might be the case. In a new edited volume, Cracking the Digital Ceiling: Women in Computing around the World, Carol Frieze and Jeria L. Quesenberry examine this issue from a cross-cultural and a cross-national perspective. They argue for the importance of considering how women’s experiences in computing are shaped by culture, and they set out to counter prevailing narratives about innate differences between men and women. Drawing on a rich array of perspectives from scholars across a variety of fields and around the world, they highlight that women’s underrepresentation in computing is not a universal phenomenon and that experiences are strongly shaped by context. In doing so, they capture important perspectives often missed in much U.S. academic work on women in computing that tends to take a Western perspective.
This anthology’s strengths are its breadth of coverage and the knowledge its authors provide about the history and perceptions of computing around the world. For example, in the chapter “Women in Computing Education: A Western or Global Problem? Lessons from India,” Roli Varma highlights the ways in which computer science is viewed as a women-friendly field in India given its economic benefits, perceptions of a safe, indoor work environment, and social advantages. While perceptions of computing as women-friendly remain gendered—here based in a need to protect and keep women safe—assumptions of competence do not factor into gendered perceptions of computing in India as they do in the United States. This chapter makes clear that gendered assessments do not lead to singular outcomes, but are shaped strongly by context.
Another stand-out is the first chapter, “An Inegalitarian Paradox: On the Uneven Gendering of Computing Work around the World,” by Tiffany Chow and Maria Charles. Here, the authors explicate an interesting paradox in which information and computing technology work is most dominated by men in economically developed and more democratic regions (e.g., Europe and North America), and least dominated by men in less developed and democratized regions (e.g., Africa and Asia). The authors argue that career aspirations in more affluent societies are more strongly influenced by gender stereotypes given a greater cultural focus on individualism rather than material security. Together, the writings in this anthology make clear that we cannot simply apply a U.S.- or Western-centered perspective on computing in other contexts. What it means to be a woman in computing is not a single and universal experience. However, this anthology also implicitly highlights where similarities emerge. Many chapters illustrate tensions between expectations in the workplace and expectations of women in the home. Household labor and child care are a consistent and substantial barrier to participation in computing for women across many cultural contexts.
Though this book provides a wide breadth of perspectives, it could do more to consider heterogeneity within categories. For one, there is large variation within the broad grouping of computing occupations. Computing work is composed of a variety of distinct and specific jobs that vary by content, but also by prestige and gender composition. While thinking broadly about computing has important value, it also can potentially obscure how women are being sorted into specific roles within this wider category. Relatedly, though the editors note the importance of intersectionality, they could do more to draw out its implications. Importantly, Blaser and colleagues provide background on the unique experiences of women with disabilities, who have received especially limited attention, in the chapter “Perspectives of Women with Disabilities in Computing.” Further exploration of differences between women in each cultural context would have added even more to the editors’ and authors’ claims. Finally, there are moments where authors drift toward individual-level explanations of observed gender differences, such as highlighting resilience as a distinguishing factor of women who remain in computing. Here, more focus could be given to the role of context and constraints in shaping who is most able to be resilient.
Overall, this book offers a necessary corrective to continuing claims of innate differences in technical ability between men and women. It also challenges the U.S.- and Western-centric view of what women’s representation and experiences look like in computing fields. It is a helpful introductory text for those learning about gendered experiences in computing and useful for broadening our discussion of women in computing and engaging with the complexities of what this means around the world.