The Role of Gender Within F/LOSS, Hardware & Making Communities: What’s the Difference?


The link to see the hangout should be this one https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/def68db24287c3d958356c32dff900e4418b4a5c?authuser=0&hl=en-GB#

Description

Despite the efforts of several groups involved in F/LOSS (Free, Libre, Open Source Software) communities, women have been a marginalised minority group in these spaces for many years - and indeed, a recent European Commission-facilitated study showed that only 1.5% of F/LOSS members were female (Ghosh et al 2002). However, the case is entirely different when one looks at parallel Open Hardware/Making movements, where men and women are often equally represented. Indeed, some of the most well-known open hardware/making initiatives are run by women, including AdaFruit (lead by LadyAda and Becky Stern from MAKE Magazine), Littlebits (lead by Ayah Bdeir), the Open Source Hardware Summit (lead by Catarina Mota, who is also the Founder of Portugal’s ALTlab), and the Open Source Hardware Association (lead by Alicia Gibb). In France specifically, women are especially prominent in spreading the idea of digital fabrication: journalists like Sabine Blanc or Ophélie Noor from Owni, educators such as the women from Nod-a. The team of Open Solar Circuits was composed by women. The first library to become a fablab in Lafayetteville comes from women. In summary, how do we explain the differences of participation and access between F/LOSS and Open Hardware/Making movements related to gender and diversity? Is it just a question of visibility? Of community? Or something more specific to open hardware and making?

In this roundtable session, we will highlight the experiences of several women involved in these fields, and have a discussion about possibilities for learning across these related (yet separate) community spectrums.


Session Host

Frederique Muscinési, Ultra-lab, Spain/France, @ultra_lab

Co-faciliated with Dr. Peter Troxler, Frederique Muscinési, Massimo Menichinelli from the Design/Manufacturing/Hardware/Making Topic Stream.

Participants: Catarina Mota, Alison Powell, Jara Rocha, Wendy Van Wynsberghe


Bios

Frederique Muscinési: Member of Ultra-lab, a company specialized in spreading open hardware into creative contexts. http://ultra-lab.net


Details

Location: MAKE meeting room 1

Date & Time: Thursday 20th September, 13:00-14:30

Target Group: All the persons interested in the theme

Topic Stream: Open Design, Hardware, Manufacturing and Making

Session Etherpad page: