In households throughout the world, it is not uncommon to see a woman taking on the role of homemaker solely. However, more and more often, the idea of women working outside of the home is becoming a reality. Particularly, women are filling a vital role in the emerging technology fields. The duties of female workers are aiding in the progress of technology, right along with their male counterparts, because the once invisible intellectual ability of women is finally being utilized.
Throughout history, select women have emerged in the technology fields. Although these women were few and far between, they indeed existed. One of the first pioneers in the technology field was Ada Bryon, Lady Lovelace. During her lifespan, from the year 1815 to the year of 1852, Ada became a famous mathematician and the writer of the first computer algorithm (Hooper sec 9). However even after Ada, there were a limited number of women who proceeded into careers in any areas of technology.
Shortly after the death of Ada Bryon, Lady Lovelace, Marie Curie was born in 1867. In a time when most scientist were men, Curie was an indomitable woman scientist. Specifically, throughout her work as a chemist she focused on cancer research. As the first women ever to receive the Nobel Prize, her legacy lives on today through a permanent memorial and living tribute that was established in 1948 in the United Kingdom. Also, since that year the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation has continued to make contributions to cancer patience’s care and marked its fiftieth anniversary in 1984.
Emily Warren Roebling is solid proof that women can work alongside men, even their own husbands, in the engineering field. As her husband grew ill during the building of the Brooklyn Bridg...
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In an excerpt titled "The Feminist Face of Antitechnology" from his 1981 book Blaming Technology, Samuel C. Florman explains why he thinks so few educated women in modern society are engineers. The excerpt was written shortly after he had visited an all-female liberal arts school, Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, to convince a few young women to become engineers. His mission failed and his essay makes clear why he had such trouble.
Cech, Erin, et al. "Professional Role Confidence and Gendered Persistence In Engineering." American Sociological Review 76.5 (2011): 641, 642,646 Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Rosalind Franklin: Seeing a woman as a scientist during this time is somewhat rare, so the fact that she has taken up this profession show that she is persistent, dedicated, and smart. The only problem is that she is undervalued because of her gender. She is also very quiet and reserved because she’s in a different country.
The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.
Since the beginning of time women and men have had their own set of duties. Society has this chart of what a woman is supposed to do, along with what men are supposed to do. As new eras emerge not only does technology, cultures, ethics, but also the duties of each gender role. I will be explaining the effect of men doing work that is deemed to be a woman’s job. There are a few key terms to understand first in order to comprehend the effect this has on society. The key terms are as follows; Gender roles, gender role socialization, and men gender role.
received the right to work menial jobs for minimum pay with less job security. She has
Valarie Thomas was born in Maryland in the month of May of 1943. When she was young, math and science was not encouraged of her, but soon she developed a fascination with the mysteries of technology. At eight years old, she borrowed a book from the library, called “The Boy’s First Book on Electronics.” Although, her father was also interested in electronics, he would not help her with any of the projects that were found in the book. For in the 1950s most parents and schools didn’t deem electronics and other scientific subjects to be a suitable career for women. Valerie attended an all-girls high school. While in high school, she decided to take accelerated math classes, she also continued to work on her technological ability as more of a curiosity.
When most people think of the Scientific Revolution, they think of scientists such as Galileo, Newton, Brahe, and Boyle. However, many people do not even know about the many women who played a vital role in the scientific advancements of this period. Even when these women were alive, most of society either ignored them or publicly disapproved their unladylike behavior. Because of this, these women were often forgotten from history, and very little is known about the majority of them. Although their names rarely appear in history books, the female scientists of the Scientific Revolution still impacted the world of science in several ways. In fact, all of the scientists listed above had a woman playing an influential role assisting them in their research. However, assisting men in their studies was not the only role open to women; several women performed experimentation and research on their own, or advancing science in some other way, even though the society of the time looked down upon and even resisted their studies.
Feminism was at its nadir in the mid-twentieth century; cries of women's liberation, freedom, and independence resonated from all parts of the world. This era is perhaps best perceived as one, which was replete with images of women burning their bras. Armed with gainful education, women from different echelons of womankind were seen fighting adversities to assert and establish their rights. Margaret Laurence in "The Diviners" illustrates this phenomenon and delineates the status and challenges faced by the women of this era, by relating the story of its protagonist Morag Gunn, and the people responsible for mapping the course of her life.
Kathleen Buse, Diana Bilimoria, Sheri Perelli, "Why they Stay: Women Persisting in US engineering careers". Career Development International, 18 (2013): 2. Print.
If people were asked what percentage of technological jobs are held by women, most would guess around 50%. But in fact, women’s involvement in technological fields has dropped significantly in the last decade, leaving less than 25% of such jobs being held by women. This prevents economies from developing and prevents communities from reaching their full potential. As John Kerry said, “No country can get ahead if it leaves half of its people behind. This is why the United States believes gender equality is critical to our shared goals of prosperity, stability, and peace, and why investing in women and girls worldwide is critical.” The lack of women in technology is a problem that faces us daily, but can also be changed daily. Unless
That same year Marie met Pierre Curie, an aspiring French physicist. A year later Maria Sklodowska became Madame Curie. Marie and Pierre worked as a scientific team, in 1898 their achievements resulted in world importance, in particular the discovery of polonium (which Marie named in honor of Poland) and the discovery of Radium a few months later. The birth of her two daughters, Irene and Eve, in 1897 and 1904 did not interrupt Maria's work. In 1903, Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for Physics. The award jointly awarded to Curie, her husband Pierre, and Henri Becquerel, was for the discovery of radioactivity. In December 1904 she was appointed chief assistant in the laboratory directed by Pierre Curie.
Augusta Ada Lovelace, known as Ada Lovelace was born in what is now, Piccadilly Terrace, London, on December 10, 1815 (Ada King, countess of Lovelace). Ada Lovelace was a brilliant mathematician who later was introduced to Charles Babbage, whom she started working with. Lovelace translated an article in English and expressed her comments. Ada Lovelace is considered to be the first computer programmer in the 1800’s, and the first female to have written instructions for computer programming (Ada Lovelace Biography Mathematician, Computer Programmer (1815–1852)).
With technology rapidly changing as fast as we blink our eyes, it is important for people to learn as much as possible about the computer world if they want to maintain a decent lifestyle because the world we live in revolving around those technologies. As McKee points out, “most jobs now require intelligence and technical skill” (1). Each year, there is something either added or modified to computers, which forces people to learn computer literacy at a steady pace. While some love computers, others despise them. When comparing people’s attitudes towards computers, statistics show a gender gap that proves most females’ attitudes are drastically different from the attitudes of males. Several studies prove that women not only lack an interest in technology, but they also chose not to enroll in computer classes. Since computers and technology play an enormous role in the world today, more technology professionals are needed. It is extremely important for more women to become knowledgeable in these areas. Swain and Harvey argue, “This technology gender gap is affecting half our population and causing it to be unprepared to contribute to the demands of a high-tech twenty-first century” (17). While this may not seem like a serious issue to some, it is an issue that will ultimately lead to a bigger problem if not handled immediately. So why are there so few women in the technology field? To answer that question, I must first find out why are there so few women in the technology and computer classes, considering that this atmosphere is the most common place where the interest for computers is born.
However, women have made optimistical progress towards equality and their role in the society has been changed dramatically since the last century. Many women stepped out of their home and start to work at factories and offices. The number of working women with children has more than doubled in the past 50 years. While working conditions for women may have improved, there is a lack of appreciation for the notion that work for most women doesn't end at the door of a factory or office. Despite an increase of women's participation in the labour force, women's share of housework has hardly changed in 50 years.