Cooperating to broaden Chalmers's knowledge on gender and technology

Chalmers has one of Sweden's largest research environments in gender and technology. Now the group wants to create more collaboration with the rest of the university.

“This knowledge is in demand by companies, and is needed if Chalmers is to continue being at the forefront of technological development”, says Lisa Lindén, associate professor in gender and technology.

What does gender have to do with technology? The question comes up from time to time, although Chalmers researchers in gender and technology think that awareness of the subject's importance has increased.

“This research field is not about men, women and statistics, it is about how we create and perceive technology. Because technology is not disconnected from society: there is a male norm, a limited view of what technology is. When we increase the knowledge and awareness of this, we can become even more relevant and create more inclusive technology”, say researchers Catharina Landström and Lisa Lindén.

They both work at Chalmers's Division of Science, Technology and Society, in the Department of Technology Management and Economics, where one of Sweden's leading research environments in gender and technology has been created. The group has a large network, both in Sweden and internationally, and runs several notable research projects and courses in the field.

Important knowledge for all of Chalmers

The group recently organised a symposium on gender and technology, financed by Genie, Chalmers's major investment in gender equality work. The aim is to show what the group is working on, discuss the topic and create more connections within Chalmers.

Lisa Lindén sees great opportunities to increase cooperation with the rest of the university. It would create more perspectives in the field and allow for more people to benefit from the group's network and expertise, she believes.

“This is not a closed area or a special interest. It is knowledge that is needed, and that concerns all of our colleagues.“

Catharina Landström agrees.
“For us, gender is included as a natural dimension of analysis in studies, and we think that others can also utilise this. What happens, for example, if you as a logistics researcher bring a gender perspective to studies of the supply chain? We believe that an increased awareness of gender and technology can create added value in many research areas, and allow us to train even better engineers”, she says.

Gender influences the content of technology

Both point out that there is a lot of research on how technology becomes exclusionary when design and technical solutions are created for, or based on, men. Like when tools and work clothes are designed with men as the typical users, or when car safety is tested with crash dummies based on the weight and height of an average man.

Also in artificial intelligence, the gender perspective is important since AI systems are affected by how data collection and algorithm design is carried out - and the systems consequently risk reflecting gender stereotypes or gender discrimination in society. Lisa Lindén, who researches gender in medical technology, also points to the problem with medical studies and knowledge about diseases that are mainly based on data from men.

“A lot of fantastic research is conducted at Chalmers, but if we are to continue being relevant and at the forefront of technological development, knowledge is needed about how gender and technology interact and how this influences technology's design and content”.

According to Catharina Landström, it is clear that the industry is requesting this knowledge.
“And the gains are numerous. This is evident not least in the latest Allbright report, which shows that companies with gender equality often have better profitability.”

Aiming to broaden the work

Even though they think that Chalmers is doing a good job of increasing gender equality within the organisation, it is clear that issues about gender and technology can be difficult to embrace.

“Increasing the proportion of women in the faculties, programmes and courses is important; and there are many good discussions about gender equality linked to organizational issues, study environments and how people are treated. But a gender perspective on the content of technology is a greater challenge. We need to work broadly with this area throughout all of Chalmers, and the gender and technology group hopes to contribute to this”, says Lisa Lindén.

More about the gender and technology group at Chalmers

The group conducts research on gender and technology linked to a number of areas; including digitalisation, climate, climate denial, energy and medicine.

Some of the employees are:
Martin Hultman, associate professor in science, technology and environmental studies
Anna Åberg, researcher and historian of technology
Kai Lo Andersson, doctoral student following the Genie project at Chalmers
Lisa Lindén, associate professor in gender and technology
Catharina Landström, associate professor in theory of science
Anna Grzelec, visiting researcher

Examples of projects:

The event Equality and Technology was arranged on 28 February