Thesis & Project Development Studio

D.I.Y. Technology for Women

Abstract
Today more than ever, importance placed on technology is increasing rapidly that job opportunities are growing in electrical engineering, computer science and other related fields. However, the female employment in these fields is still low. I believe that creating interests in D.I.Y. technology for women and their children could help increase females in all technology-based fields. When the mother and child are working on a D.I.Y. project together, the mother is shown to be a good role model for technology. This paper will explore the reason why women are not interested in technology and how this can be overcome. It will also show good examples of the available DIY projects, comparison among these projects and an exploration what future DIY projects should be developed.

1. Research Background : Electronics and Female
It’s very hard to find females who are interested in studying electronics in the technology field as a career path. Even at home, buying and repairing electronics are typically a male’s role. Furthermore, computer science, electrical engineering, and other technology related fields are overwhelmingly populated by males [1]. Even though we live in an age of technology and electronic jobs are getting popular, the gap between females and males is not narrowing. There are continuing argument about gender role and ability. However, in most cases, gender has nothing to do with the ability to learn about technology or other related fields. Instead there are factors that point to females being discouraged to explore careers in technology or stereotypes that females are not interested in any technology related jobs.

To build limited belief systems about the technology from young child age
From kindergarten, boys interests are towards computer games and mechanical toys and girls are more likely to play with dolls or be involved in more social games [2]. Moreover, mass media and family environment implants preconceived idea about the gender role. Perhaps, the best example of dividing gender with preconception is the Barbie doll advertisement when Mattel introduced a Barbie Doll in the market, “Teen Talk Barbie,” which told little girls that “math is hard.”
Researchers suggest that children internalize belief systems about “appropriate” careers at a young age (as early as pre-kindergarten). They carry these belief systems throughout their educational career and adult job tenure [3]. These internal and external elements affect to children’s belief systems, so that boy tends to occupy more jobs in technology fields.

To get into preconception that women is not greater than man in technology ability
The general misconception about mathematics and technology is those women are afraid of it so that they don’t want to learn or use it. Conversely female and male have similar mathematical and mechanical ability. Patricia Campbell supports by insisting “there is no convincing evidence of innate gender differences in mathematical ability” and “there is almost no difference in the performance of male and female students who have taken equal advantage of similar opportunities to study mathematics.” [4] In most cases, females are not encouraged to express these subject interests. If they are given the opportunity to express their interests, they will be able to prove their abilities.
Not able to find female role models in technology

To be Hard to find a role model
Most of the famous scientists, mathematicians and successful pioneers of technology are male. Gender discrepancies in the field of science, math, and technology can be attributed, in part, to public media images that focus success in these areas focusing on boys. Parents, teachers, and guidance counselors are not encouraging girls to pursue science, math, and technology classes, clubs, and careers. [5] As a consequence, a girl does not have the same opportunity to pursue these fields. The role of a mother in the family often limit their daughter’s career interests by not exposing their child to a wide array of possible careers. Therefore, if the mother was given the means to educate their child about the available opportunities in technology, their daughter's interests in these fields will translate to the increase of females in technology-based careers. It is very difficult to change the attitudes of mothers towards electronics and other technologies.

As we have seen, female have the possibility to learn and enjoy technology just as their male counterpart. But they are not as interested in learning about technology as males because of limited access to these opportunities at a young age. By overcoming the external elements and expanding female’s interests, the mother will educate their child, who will be active in the technology field, then hopefully teach her daughter about females in technology. It is very difficult to change the attitudes of mothers towards electronics and other technologies. One approach might be to couple electronics with female-centric hobbies to spark interest.

2. Recent projects of DIY Technology for women
Traditionally, crafts usually involving clothing, fabrics, and other materials have been popular hobbies share among mothers and their children. Recently, D. I. Y. (Design it yourself) culture is gaining popularity though the Internet primarily because of the ease of sharing and obtaining DIY instructions. The hope is to increase women participation in technology through DIY instructions and expose future generation of women to technology-based career paths.

There are very interesting phenomenon about learning technology and building DIY project by users on the Internet site. It’s getting more popular in open source system with Web 2.0 because people can easily publish their own contents and distribute to others. However, most of the readers of Make magazine and authors of technology DIY instructions on Instuctables.com site are still heavily dominated by males. That’s why the craft magazine was published one year later for women’s readers to fulfill a perceived need to publish a separate electronics hobby magazine for women. With comparing between technologies oriented DIY sites and general women’s DIY site, women are still willing to learn technology through their own DIY project. Only a few artists and creators are aware of these problems and start to develop technology DIY project to expand women’s interests and contribute more to technology.

2.1: A Construction kit for Electronic Textiles

Figure 1. An electronic sewing kit
Leah Buechley, who is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Colorado and a member of the Craft Technology Group, has developed various kinds of electronic circuits with fabrics for novice. The first sewing kit was designed to teach about circuit through sewing. The kit has a simple function of turning on a LED with a coin battery, so user is able to conduct craft in their caps, t-shirts, and bags. She recently has developed more advanced circuit kit “electronic textile kit” and “Lily Pad” that is easy to construct circuits using a micro-controller which easily attaches on fabrics; perfect for wearable computing.

Figure 2. An electronic textile kit

Figure 3. LilyPad
Her crucial point for education is that the users learn programming and general electronics design and build a final project by themselves. According to her paper, the kit tested with high school students using Arduino programming. She also is exposing elementary students to sewing with her first electronic sewing kit. She’s classifying taxonomy of strategies for design of electronic textile and children’s crafts are “Electronic”, “Fabric”, and “Software” craft activities in which children may interact with these new technologies [6]. In many cases in her studies, the kits was tested at class room with workshop to provide instructions and learn basic skills to impart the practice of educational and children’s crafts. [7]
The first sewing kit and “Quilt Snap” projects was focus on to educate women, but latest project “Lily Pad” have focused on users of both gender, to empower novices to work with electronic textile. Even though users are able to conduct their own project with her kits, it is still hard for woman and children to learn about programming and the complicate chips including microprocessors. Her kits are suitable for user over high school students or creators who are interest wearable computing.

2.2: Electronic Crafts
Mouna Andraos who is an EyeBeam researcher and teaching Physical Computing class at Interactive Telecommunications Program in New York University was “Electronic Crafts” for thesis projects and web site. On her website, there are D.I.Y. information with step-by-step instruction of material and processes. The intent is to help users and creators understand the technologies driving everyday electronics better, modify them to fit their real needs and possibly create new ones all together. It also allows for new distribution scenarios while it explores and refines a methodology of electronic crafts based on the practices spreading trough already emerging open source information networks [8].

Figure 4. A soft circuit

Figure 5. Pillow Music
The advantages of Electronic Crafts are providing information about what material to buy and instruction with detail explanation and pictures. However, this project is not for mothers and children. She said her project is for young artists who don’t have any skill of electronic fabrication in her interview. Materials such as conductive thread and fabric, and electronic components are easy to find and order for them. The DIY projects often require specific skills such as soldering and casting skills.

2-3: Switch
Switch an online D. I. Y. video show for teaching young women about electronics through fashion and design. Although there are just few D. I. Y. projects and recently the characteristic of the show has been changed to interview of other famous artists, the Switch projects include very detailed instruction and is can be made by materials which is found around us. The show understands women’s needs and their abilities and developed projects to meet their desire. Alison Lewis who is a main host of the show said “I want people to make what they want, and be inspired by what they can create. By the way, Patsy and Filly are possible for the advanced SWITCH audience” [9]. Also, the instruction made by movie file so that women are able to watch and do the DIY projects at the pace of the show similarly to cooking show on TV.

Figure 6. Material list for Talking Frames
The Switch projects minimized to use solder and make full use of other easy tools such as hot glue instead of soldering iron. Also, project’s idea is attractive girls and easy to build. However, the show’s focused on making things and not about knowledge what they are making and why the projects are able to working. So, it makes users difficult to apply the idea to design their own idea.

Conclusion
In brief, helping women to gain interests about technology, electronics and science can be the good way to form a good role model for their young daughter. For the reason, the technology DIY projects are the best solution for a mother and their children. The DIY projects should be developed to meet the user’s needs to enjoy and learn about technology and electronics. To encourage female users, the DIY projects should be designed to be aesthetically attractive and different from typical wire and circuit, which are mainly targeted to males. As we analyzed from the other DIY projects, the materials of the projects and tools should be easy to find around us and use them. Online instructions of pictures, text and video can be good to learn how to conduct the project. When those conditions meet women’s desire, the technology DIY may impact not only mother's lives but those of their children as well.

References
[1] J.Margolis and A.Fisher. Unlovking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. MIT Press. Boston, MA, USA, 2001.
[2] Yu-Chen Yeh, Technology Gender Gap, http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/gendergap/index.htm
[3] Dr. Mary Gatta and Dr. Mary Trigg, Bridging the Gap: Gender Equity in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2001.
[4] Campbell, Patricia. “No Virginia, There is no Math Gene.” http://www.campbell-kibler.com/no_virginia.htm
[5] Dr. Mary Gatta and Dr. Mary Trigg, Bridging the Gap : Gender Equity in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2001.
[6] Leah Buechley, Electronic/Computational Textiles and Children’s Crafts, IDC ’06, 2006.
[7] Leah Buechley, A Construction kit for Electronic Textiles, IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), 2006.
[8] Treehugger, Electronic Crafts: Open-Sourcing the Green Electronics Revolution , http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/electronic_craf.php, 2007.
[9] Interview with Alison Lewis, we-make-money,-not-art.com, http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/009191.php, 2006.

Resources
Leah Buechley, Electronic Textiles Kits, http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~buechley/.
Mouna Andraos, Electronic Crafts, http://www.electroniccrafts.org/.
Alison Lewis, Switch, http://iheartswitch.com/.