Canadian First Nations Women Preservice Teachers' Experiences and Perceptions Regarding Technology

The primary purpose of this research was to collect data for Canadian First Nations educators and policy makers to use in making decisions surrounding issues of First Nations women and technology education. Nine First Nations women preservice teachers at the intern stage of their Indian Teacher Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan were engaged in indepth interviews concerning their experiences and perceptions regarding technology. The study found that the participants defined technology first and foremost as computer-related. Some viewed technology from the cultural aspect, and thought technology used for financial gain would take away from traditional family values. The participants thought that women needed technology training and that they needed to develop self-confidence and become role models in order for First Nations women to exercise leadership in the field of technology. The participants stated that their university experience was responsible for most of their learning about technology. They did not, however, feel prepared to face the technology they would encounter in schools. Intimidation, stereotypes, the lack of access and exposure to technology, the lack of a good self-image, lack of time, and lack of role models were perceived to be some of the biggest barriers to First Nations women learning about and using technology. Men in their use of intimidation and stories with negative images of women and technology were perceived as one of the strongest deterrents to First Nations women advancing in the area of technology. Findings from this study had significant implications. First Nations teacher preparation programs should include required credit courses and establish daycare centers. Band controlled schools should update computers and make provisions for technology education by providing for such courses. Further research such as a collection of stories embracing positive images of First Nations women involved in technological pursuits should be undertaken to help ameliorate the status of First Nations women in technology.

WOMAN AND TECHNOLOGY: A STUDY ON GENDER PORTRAYAL OF A FEMALE CYBORG IN GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017) MOVIE

This study aims to analyze gender portrayal in Ghost in the Shell (2017) movie by applying Donna Haraway’s concept of cyborgs as in her Cyborg Manifesto. Focusing on the analysis of narrative and non-narrative elements, this research seeks to reveal how the main character is portrayed as a female cyborg. As a result, the writers found that her shifting existence as a female cyborg in the movie is the representation of how women can be the subject by affiliating with technology. The assumption of women as the "object" of technology is no longer exist, and they are competent to have a career in technology. As a conclusion, this movie promotes the idea of women empowerment in technology by the affiliation of women and technology.

Women and Technology

This chapter looks at challenges for women in leadership in technical disciplines, specifically mechanical and civil engineering. It considers strategies being employed to correct the gender imbalance and highlights the particular challenges faced by women working in these disciplines. The chapter responds to these challenges by building on the need for changes in thinking highlighted by thought leaders in the 21st century, to suggest a way forward for creating change that directly relates to the role of women in leadership in the discipline. The chapter is relevant for scholars researching gender equality and also for university leaders in developing strategies for adopting women in leadership initiatives in a changing educational landscape. It will also be of interest to academics within these and related disciplines as well as academics involved in the delivery of professional development courses for women in leadership.

Sustainable Development With the Digitalization of Women

There is no single field that is unaffected by the developments experienced in information and communication technologies today. However, the questions, Have women been affected by these intensive technological developments and technology utilization—which are efficient in every field—as much as men have? If not, how may this be reversed? and how may technology be made effective in making women economic? arouse curiosity. Therefore, the study was shaped by answering these questions. Another reason why the study took these questions as the basis is that women and technology are of profound importance in the sustainable development and growth of societies. Women's efficient use of technology is a must to turn the changes and developments experienced in information and communication technologies into opportunities and to reach the standards of the information society. Women's economic empowerment and technology were examined, the importance of the subject was emphasized, and recommendations were made within the scope of the study.

OB-scene, a Live Audio/Visual Performance for Photoplethysmograph and Female Body

OB-scene is a performance centred on a live sonification of biological data gathered in real-time with a medical vaginal probe (photoplethysmograph), made by the author. The use of the photoplethysmograph, which takes inspiration from the first medical vaginal probes used for diagnostic purposes by Masters and Johnson (1966) introduces a media-archaeological aspect to this work. Data gathered through the probe is processed and transformed into sound and visuals projected in the exhibition space. OB-scene takes inspiration from Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter (2010) in which she argues that human agency has echoes in non-human nature and vice versa, shifting away from anthropocentrism towards the concept of ‘vital materiality’ that runs across bodies, both humans and unhuman. Furthermore, OB-scene is affiliated with an emerging movement of women and technology called ‘XenoFeminism’ (XF). It introduces the idea of techno-alienation and focuses on the concept of other/diverse desires, new forms of desiring, experiencing something other (Laboria Cuboniks 2015). In this specific work, this takes the form of a technofeminism incorporating the fluid, the non-human and the diverse. In this performance, the body is fused with the technology, rather than empowered or enhanced by technology itself, body and technology become a unique actant (Latour 2009) enabling the audience to experience the sensorial assemblage as a space for communal experience with political implications. OB-scene is as an immersive environmental work where the senses, affect and memory were key features of ‘assemblage thinking’ (Hamilakis 2017).

The Online Feminine Mystique

When the Internet was first commercialized and commonly utilized, men numerically dominated Internet use (Actman, 1995 and Johns, 1997). Over time, the population of Internet users has normalized and increasingly women are using the Internet at the same rate as men. This raises societal questions. Is social media conditioned to be more ‘female-dominated' due to the focus on social aspects, traditionally seen as more feminine? This introductory chapter explores the technology use of women. Taking a perspective of providing a background, first, the literature related to women and technology and the dominant theoretical underpinnings is discussed. Then the authors investigate conditioning of women in careers, lifestyles and general technology use. This discussion of the academic literature is then reinforced through an analysis of industry based data, to understand how women are utilizing technology. The chapter concludes with an agenda for further research into the use of technology by women.