Women in IT
Why am I, as a woman, not in IT? my robot asks. The subject is often in the news, at least in North America, but I’ve never really found any satisfying conclusions. I’ve thought about the issue many times, Why am I not interested? Why do I feel frustrated at the mere thought of trying to hook up my wireless router, which is still – I shamefully admit –sitting on a shelf in my living room collecting dust?
I’ve always suspected that it was a circular argument, namely that IT was created by men, and because it reflected their thoughts, desires and abilities more than women’s, it never really had a chance to appeal to most of us. (It reminds me of an Ethics essay I wrote on the morality of porn, but I won’t go there today.) Of course it doesn’t help when guidance counselors encourage boys to study math and sciences, and girls home-making and basket-weaving.
But I’ve also thought there was more to it than that. When people ask me if, as a web editor, I design and develop websites, I have to clarify: “I’m not a techie, I’m managing web content. Furthermore, I’m in a press office and not the IT department.” But it’s this lack of clarity about where IT starts and where it ends. It can mean hardware, software development, database management, computer engineering, robotics, game design, knowledge management, virtual worlds, virtual basket-weaving? Perhaps not yet.
A new report by IBM and Catalyst, a non-profit group that promotes women in business, has nailed down some good points. The backing research says that IT companies are lagging behind when it comes to promoting equity between the sexes. Women, as a result, often feel isolated, ignored and excluded. They lack role models, don’t get enough support from managers, and miss networking and professional development opportunities.
An article in IT Business claims that a big problem tied in with the issue of IT’s blurry contours is that we’re trying to push girls and women to become more interested in the technology side – in areas such as gaming, robotics and computer engineering – when we should be encouraging them towards more business-oriented career paths.
It says that business technology needs are calling for more professionals with the kind of traits women tend to have – such as communication and project management skills – and who can think broadly and long-term. Women can make great business analysts, program managers, relationship managers, information architects and process analysts. And the need for these kinds of workers will only be increasing, it argues, while stereotypically techie jobs such as in programming, helpdesk and database administration are being automated or outsourced.
Maybe I should pull out that information architecture book I ordered a few months ago and shelved after the first chapter…
Robot soldiers
Luckily, my robot is safe. He was starting to get worried that he might be kidnapped by special agents and transformed into an immoral killing machine to be sent off to Afghanistan. He can relax, he’s not real. But he feels sorry for his fellow species who are being built to fight wars and will inevitably be placed in some awfully tricky situations.
The US has already deployed thousands of semi-autonomous robots to boost their strength on the ground in Iraq, and governments around the globe are forging ahead in developing robots capable of making crucial decisions like, Should I pull the trigger? Should I pull the trigger when my commanding officer orders me to shoot a wounded enemy? Should I pull the trigger when I know, or I’ve been programmed to know, that I shouldn’t?
Nobody wants our fellow citizens to die unnecessarily, and the politicians know this more than anyone, so reducing the number of casualties in war and conflict would be good all around. But my robot thinks we have to think very carefully about it. Is it ethical to send a force of robots against a civilian army? Does it matter? My robot thinks it does.
And where could it lead? Robot police, robot security guards, robot bodyguards… could they also be capable of pulling the trigger without a direct order? I can’t suppress the image of cylons patrolling a bleak New Caprica settlement.
I’ve also been politely reminded to read I, Robot. I’ve seen the film a while ago, but I’m sure the book offers much more. There’s always the frightening Blade Runner scenario. I have to read the book on which it’s based – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Shameful that I haven’t yet, I know.
I’m sure there are tons of ideas reflected in literature exploring where we could be headed. But do people know that we are nearly at the crossroads? Or do we still feel safe in our knowledge that as long as human lives are at stake, there’s a strong argument against military offensives?
Bionic lenses
Sometimes, even my robot dreams of escaping into the quiet mountains, where wholesome and hard-working folk who live in small villages couldn’t care less about internet connection, cell phone reception or video surveyance.
Sometimes, keeping up with what’s going on out there – all the games and gadgets, talking cars, armed robot soldiers, spy-moths, bionic contact lenses – is just too exhausting, especially when you’ve got a real job. But as a robot, he feels he has an obligation.
So, about these contact lenses. Virtual visual displays are nothing really knew, for a robot. It could, however, be a bit strange for us. Imagine walking through a dying forest, with overlays of what it looked like in the spring. Imagine an investigator using visual aids to reconstruct a crime scene. Imagine a visually impaired person zooming down the highway in their new corvette.
It may soon be possible. They’ve managed to construct a lens with tiny microscopic electric circuits and solar receptors that will be powered by solar cells and radio frequencies and use light-emitting diodes to illuminate the display. Wireless communication may also become possible. I’m not sure if the bionic woman would have been surprised, but if my robot is wondering, than I guess I need to keep my eyes on this. With my glasses on, that is.
