Hey gals,

If you are reading this, I'm under the impression that you are a woman in the field of technology, and I was hoping that you might participate in an upcoming project.

I had a long chat with a friend a few nights ago about the obstacles that females in technology face. I'm not talking about blatant shit like salary cuts and sexual harassment -- even though they DO happen, heh. I'm referring to the general undercurrent that exists regarding how females in the sciences are perceived. For example, I can't tell you how many times throughout my life I've been told that more men are in math and science because men are more logical. This doesn't only come from people I'd consider sexist, it also seems to be a part of post-feminist ideology in accepting inherent differences and so forth. I've always felt that if girls weren't told that they're less logical, aka "doomed from the start",
they would be much more likely to get into technology.

So here's my thought. I'll pick 3-4 girls and 3-4 guys, each who are in college for technology or have chosen it as their profession. I'll give each person a short interview and post them without saying names or genders. I'll have people who read the article comment through a form on who they think is male and who they think is female, detailing why. I'm interested in what it says about people's perception of women in technology -- and how it effects the women themselves. For example, say a commenter responds, "I think that persons x,y, and z are women because they seem more interested in artistic things like Flash and web design, rather than more technical aspects". What does that mean? That people have false expectations of women? Or true ones? That women feel uncomfortable working outside of those expectations? That society has affected women's expectations of themselves? What if the guess is right? Wrong?

Afterwards, I'd gather the results, reveal the true identities, and post a follow-up interview, possibly with questions pertaining to the guesses. I don't want to go into this with any sort of bent or hypothesis. I'm not trying to prove anything. I'd just like to open up some dialogue.

If you'd like to be interviewed, please click the link below to fill out my questionairre. Not everyone who fills it out will be selected, but this will help me make a decision.

Thanks!!

The survey is titled:
"Survey for Women in Technology"

"I am interested in writing an article exploring the perceptions surrounding women in technology. I plan to pick 3-4 girls and 3-4 guys, each of whom are in college for technology or have chosen it as their profession. I'll give each person a short interview and post them without saying names or genders. I'll have people who read the article comment through a form on who they think is male and who they think is female, detailing why. I'm interested in what it says about people's perception of women in technology -- and how it effects the women themselves.

If you are interested in being one of the interviewees, please fill out this questionairre. Participants will be chosen based largely on honesty, so please don't be afraid to be brutal! I will also select a diverse range, so I'm looking for web designers, admins, programmers, graphic designers, project managers -- you name it!"

To participate, please click on the link below.

Sincerely,

Erica (webmaster@thanksforthemammaries.net)

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Click here to do the survey:
www.thanksforthemammaries.net/sur....php