“Gender and Career Perspectives in the History of Technology:” a WITH panel discussion

WITH PANEL DISCUSSION, PITTSBURGH SHOT MEETING 2009

“Gender and Career Perspectives in the History of Technology”

MODERATOR: Molly Berger, Case Western Reserve University

PARTICIPANTS:
Ruth Cowan, University of Pennsylvania
Rebecca Herzig, Bates College
Amy Slaton, Drexel University
Min Suh Son, Johns Hopkins University
Nina Wormbs, Royal Institute of Stockholm

This panel addresses what it means to be a woman in the history
of technology. It invites especially students and young scholars to
raise questions about the past and present role of gender in our
profession, such as: What experiences have women and men had
in our field? Have they been able to mobilize their gender to their
advantage, and how? Or have they seen dangers of being pigeonholed,
for example when choosing gendered research topics? What role does
gender play for historians of technology working in different institutional
contexts today? Are there certain niches in which being a woman or
working on gender is of advantage, particularly in the current economic
environment? The panel seeks to open an inter-generational dialogue
to explore career perspectives in the history of technology.

Ruth noted that there are times in academia and in the history of technology
when she doesn’t see gender any more.

Amy suggested that we can still use gender as a lens on other categories
of difference, such as race, and that it remains important to think about
how we bring our own identity into our work.

Nina added that it may be different at different times, whether we bring
women in as our primary identity, reflecting factors such as career path.

Min Suh also noted other factors such as racial stereotypes affecting
identity and others’ perceptions.

Rebecca commented that historians of technology confronting the issue
of technological determinism may have interesting angles as parallel to
scholars of women’s studies confronting the issue of biological determinism.

The panel went on to discuss issues of age, disability, class, and race,
and ways that WITH might adapt its identity and activities in future to
reflect a broader inclusiveness (identity, diversity) and remain intellectually
and socially relevant for a wide range of SHOT members. Specific
enthusiasm was expressed  for some kind of future WITH sponsored panel
on biological determinism and its parallels with technological determinism.
Rebecca and Nina agreed to  lead some work on writing a WITH
mission statement.

yours, amy bix