Posted on 10/18/2018 7:54:17 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
The National Science Foundation awarded a half a million dollars to an "intersectional feminisms" professor to study how to recruit more women into STEM fields.
The goal of the study, being led by Dr. Coleen Carrigan, a feminist anthropologist at California Polytechnic State University, is to "interrupt the reproduction of dominant class rule" in engineering and computer science programs. Carrigan's research focuses on how to "transform the powers of technology to advance social justice."
The project involves studying female engineering professors to "lend critical insights into the social/technical divide" that results in fewer women entering science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs.
The study seeks to upend current engineering and computer science programs by educating students and faculty on the "benefits of diversity and transformations required to foster welcoming environments for women."
"Due to the prominence and impact of ECS [engineering and computer science], identifying gender inequities in the field and interrupting them will help welcome and retain more talented women from a range of intersectional identities," the grant for the project states. "Harnessing the power of diversity in this way will positively contribute to all domains on which computing impinges."
The study has received $570,890 from taxpayers so far. Research began in June and is slated to continue through May 2023.
Other aims of the study include conceptualizing "labor segregation" and "intersecting vectors of gender."
"To yield new knowledge useful in efforts to broaden participation, this CAREER project systematically conceptualizes how labor segregation may relate to an ideological hierarchy between the social and technical dimensions of computing and influence cultural exclusions along intersecting vectors of gender and race," the grant states.
The project will create "educational interventions" into the engineering and computer science culture in order to "both interrupt the reproduction of dominant class rule and to study the beliefs and power relations of computing communities."
"Not only does this project contribute a novel qualitative theory of cultural change in ECS, it also tests innovative methods to better elucidate who and what counts in the field and why," the grant states.
Carrigan, the principal investigator on the study, is an assistant professor of Gender, Race, Culture, Science and Technology Studies at Cal Poly's Women's and Gender Studies Department.
Her research fields include "Intersectional Feminisms," "Cultural anthropology," "Science and technology studies," "Action-oriented ethnography," and "Broadening participation."
"First, she uses action-oriented ethnography to document women's lived experiences as marginalized members of STEM fields, the ways they navigate the politics of gender and race and the rites of passage in high-tech communities that reproduce inequalities and the ideological divide between the social and the technical," according to Carrigan's faculty page.
Carrigan also studies "feminist consciousness."
"Second, she studies women's intersectional identities and feminist consciousness and excavates the collective actions and values critical to demanding and enacting institutional change in STEM cultures," the website states. "Third, she examines cultures of STEM knowledge production through the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate students from marginalized standpoints."
"She applies her research findings to create interventions that help foster welcoming environments for underrepresented groups in STEM and transform the powers of technology to advance social justice," according to Cal Poly.
Courses taught by Carrigan include "Gender, Race, Culture, Science and Technology" and "Queer Anthropology."
She did not immediately respond to request for comment.
hey they ate the shrimp running track!
How, precisely, is this broad qualified to even comment on STEM fields? Specifically, ECS.
I think if we do not remove the ability of the federal gangstamint to raise funds, and make them live within the states wishes we will lose the nation, when a gangstamint has the right to rob it’s citizens at will the people will no longer be served..
“intersectional feminisms”
They’re just making stuff up.
Government’s been picking the winners and losers since ‘bout 1860.
Yawn!
Somebody should file a FOIA to find out who the reviewers were and the Director who approved it.
If you are a REAL glutton for punishment, enjoy the abstract below (and I thought the article was bad enough)
ABSTRACTEngineering and Computer Science (ECS) shapes our social, political and economic environments, yet struggles to attract and retain a diversity of practitioners. Why does ECS remain stubbornly segregated when it comes to gender parity? The goal of this CAREER project is to use ethnography to compare subfields of ECS in which women have different levels of participation. It investigates the relationship between cultural values, norms and practices that 1) presume practitioners from dominant groups are more competent than practitioners from underrepresented groups; and 2) privilege the technical dimensions of computing over the social ones. The uneven participation of women across ECS subfields suggests that subfield cultural values and norms vary. To examine this variation, this project focuses primarily on the experiences of female faculty members because they are a critical population that shape the next generation of ECS practitioners, have a long-standing relationships with their disciplinary subfields, and may have experiences that could lend critical insights into the social/technical divide. The project's findings articulate and forge pathways toward broadening participation in ECS because they inform learning modules and course curricula to educate students, faculty, and leaders in academia about the benefits of diversity and transformations required to foster welcoming environments for women to participate in ECS with equal opportunities, resources and regard. Due to the prominence and impact of ECS, identifying gender inequities in the field and interrupting them will help welcome and retain more talented women from a range of intersectional identities. Harnessing the power of diversity in this way will positively contribute to all domains on which computing impinges.
This CAREER project is a comparative analysis of the impact of subfield culture on women's representation in ECS. It deconstructs theoretical assumptions undergirding ECS practices to understand how complex, intersectional biases disenfranchise women from the field. To yield new knowledge useful in efforts to broaden participation, this CAREER project systematically conceptualizes how labor segregation may relate to an ideological hierarchy between the social and technical dimensions of computing and influence cultural exclusions along intersecting vectors of gender and race. Using a theory-driven, interdisciplinary research approach that integrates gender and racial equity research, anthropology and science and technology studies, this CAREER project works to: 1) Develop and refine a theoretical model of change in ECS to combat the covert and overt mechanisms that marginalize women; 2) Describe and analyze epistemic bias emerging from ideologies that consider empirical data superior to qualitative data and trivialize socially applied research in ECS; 3) Identify and assess elements of culture in ECS that reproduce or challenge inequitable power relations; 4) Describe women's differential experiences in ECS subfields along vectors of race, ethnicity, and gender identity; 5) Develop and analyze educational interventions into ECS culture that spring from an original method integrating ethnography and case study methods to both interrupt the reproduction of dominant class rule and to study the beliefs and power relations of computing communities. Not only does this project contribute a novel qualitative theory of cultural change in ECS, it also tests innovative methods to better elucidate who and what counts in the field and why. Further, it creates highly adaptable and sustainable techniques that provide opportunities for engineers to practice recognizing and responding to bias in social dynamics and articulating means of institutional change in communion with their peers. Finally, this project provides much needed anthropological theory to the problem of women's underrepresentation in ECS to advance inclusive educational practices that support and capitalize on the aptitudes of underrepresented groups. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
NSF should adopt a simple written review rule: ANY proposal containing ANY of the following words or phrases is automatically rejected and the proposer is banned for life from receiving an NSF grant:
> They’re just making stuff up. <
It sure sounds like it. By the way, you too can get in on this gravy train. Below is a link to a nonsense generator. Just click on the “Generate” button, and you’ll get a science paper to submit for a grant.
https://pdos.csail.mit.edu/archive/scigen/
This arose with 1) The federal income tax, 2) withholding tax, 3) the rise of FDR and the burrowing of communists into all branches of the federal government.
4) The 19th amendment
yep and we gave away our power to hold them accountable...CONVENTION OF STATES>>>remove all ability of the gangstamint to raise funds, require states have balanced budgets, all federal funds come from excess state funds which are GRANTED by the states for federal projects, if all fails at least the states are still vibrant despite the gangstamint of darkness
It’s easy to explain. Biological males typically use only one side of their brain, and biological females use both sides of their brain. Following a complicated logic path of scores of steps (computer program) is hard enough to keep track of when it is contained in 1/2 of a focused brain. But I would not be surprised that interference from stray snippets of thought from the second side used by females would diminish the ability to arrive at an accurate analysis of the logic path.
Does anyone here on FR have close access to Trump?
This is a waste of taxpayer $$$$$$
IF you want women to enter the STEM fields, give then grant money—and in smaller amounts to help pay for tuition.
I’ll come right out and respond to your “happy horse chit”! My daughter is studying to be a 5th generation Mechanical Engineer. The science alone can help generations to come! Rocket Science is not for the mentally challenged. I’ll leave it at that!
Our entire family are born again Christians! Not that it’s ANY of your lousy bigoted business!
Women will never succeed in equal measure in the sciences as long as they make other choices. I would be more respectful of a study that acknowledged those other choices.
My daughter scored 5 in AP Calculus and chose a telecommunications arts degree and ultimately home school motherhood. Her first daughter is pursuing a career in animation. Her second daughter wants to dance. Another girl (8 now) might be showing a knack for and interest in science or engineering. We shall see.
Oh goodness! “Harnessing the power of diversity. . .”
Forgot to put that one on my list of “automatic disqualifiers.” So unbelievably ridiculous, isn’t it?
Yep. My (former) church regularly spoke of diversity as strength. Diversity is usually a curse and a burden to any organization. Dealing with it successfully can demonstrate strength. Complementarity, on the other hand, can be a huge strength. We want individuals with various skills and interests to build a strong and functioning whole.
A black financial whiz, a white financial whiz, and an Asian financial whiz might each serve as CFO. They are diverse in a sense but do not complement each other. I would much prefer though that one of them have the skills to run my sales organization and another to have a knack for directing operations.
It’s just silly and preposterous to think that superficial characteristics that define “diversity” would magically improve a team or organization performance. As you say, it is the set of complementary competencies and strengths that make the difference. I don’t care one whit about your gender, color, or anything else as long as you are a top performer and dedicated to the mission.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.