Internet Research 11.

0 Sustainability, Participation, Action Panel Proposal Theme: Internet and an equal and balanced society Quantity and Quality: Patterns of Female Engagement with ICTs"

Chair: Larissa Hjorth, Senior Lecturer, Games Program, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Organizers: Carla GANITO Yana BREINDL
Abstract:
The recent uptake of ICTs by women masks significant and ongoing cultural and political differences in the articulation of gender issues. There are different cultural and political dynamics that obstruct gender-equal participation with ICTs at both the societal and research level. The panel proposes to explore and expose these dynamics in a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary and self-reflexive fashion.

Description:
The recent uptake of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) by women masks significant ongoing cultural and political differences in the articulation of gender issues. The panel wants to promote a debate on the participation and technological appropriation of women from a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspective. At a meta-level we intend to conduct this exploration in a self-reflexive manner, thus linking our own roles as women ICT researchers with the broader gender environment of our research. The panel will present five sites of research bringing to the table different cultural contexts. Different socio-structural dynamics are at play behind the growing number of women adopting and participating in new technologies, as well as those involved in technology research. Quantity does not ensure quality, and the quest for numerical equality may be distorting if not reifying the patterns and modes of womens adoption of technology and attendant inequalities. While much work has been done on addressing quantitative inequalities, we believe that qualitative imbalances must be further studied in order to truly work towards a more complex and comprehensive understanding of womens engagement with ICTs. This panel intends to foster a cross-disciplinary discussion on the two-tiered challenge of female engagement with ICTs: (1) at the base level of participation in male-dominated techno-cultures and female modes of technological appropriation; and (2) at the meta-level of women ICT researchers engaging with the former base

issue. We seek to explore the following questions: How do the challenges identified at the civil-societal level feed into challenges faced by women ICT researchers? How does the male domination of technological fields influence the methodological direction of female scholars, and how do women negotiate and navigate through these challenges? What strengths can women scholars bring to the table, and how can more quantitatively and qualitatively gender-equal scholarship be fostered within ICT research? We intend to tease out these issues from a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspective, with participants from a variety of locations and backgrounds. Collectively, we will explore how we might foster women's participation in technology, how to empower women and foster their critical and creative attitude; why the gender gap in digital content production persists; why women are highly underrepresented within modes of technopolitical participation and activism; and what gender-roles technology producers may encode into their products, thus constraining womens free interpretation of technological artifacts; and how even the researcher itself is constrained by its gender when tackling technological cultures. Our sites of study are varied, ranging from the Donestech Collective in Spain, the Australian Digital Content Industry, and selected internet activist movements, to the production and marketing of mobile phones to women in Portugal. What is the quality and the quantity of the impact traditional gender (design) scripting has upon the interactions between women and ICTs? We intend to conduct this exploration in a self-reflexive manner, thus linking our own roles as women ICT researchers with the broader gender environment of our research.

Panel contributions: 1. Nria Vergs Bosch, Alex Hache, Eva Cruells Lopez: Deciphering LeLas Code:
Access, uses and desires of women in ICT. Research on gender and technology has traditionally focused on studying the exclusion of women in ICT. In contrast, Technologist Womens experiences and their strategies leading to their inclusion in ICT have received less attention. Motivated by our previous experience in technoactivism and the observation of a remarkable presence of women with the Donestech Collective, in 2006, we initiated a research project on the access, uses of and desires of women who had been involved in technology. For this we created a website, gathered information on women and technology, generated and participated in meetings and workshops and, especially, collected experiences of women technologists. A call was made through the Internet to answer a semi-qualitative questionnaire online and, besides that, several in-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted in different Spanish Regions .Our findings suggest a great diversity of women pathways to ICT as well as heterogeneous technological practices among women technologists. Moreover, our results show that Women in ICT are curious, want to be empowered, distrust and dislike power relations existing in the technological environments, try to maintain a critical and creative attitude towards technology and are willing to share the knowledge gained with others.

2. Anitza GENEVE: Acts of Agency: Female Interactive Content Creators in the Australian context The empirical findings from an exploratory case study provide insight into the research problem which asks why are there less women, than men, participating in the Australian Digital Content Industry (DCI)? The case study responds to the paucity of studies that focus on the lived experiences of female interactive content creators. Primary data sources include, interviews with women employed in the multimedia or games production sectors. Secondary sources of data include; industry whitepapers, stakeholder interviews and documents such as industry blogs. The findings suggest that there are a plethora of influences and these may be better understood through a lens of human agency. A lens of agency sensitizes the researcher, to both constraining and enabling influences. The theoretical scaffold encourages analysis at the level of: environment, individual and mediating relationships between. Research outcomes include, rich descriptive insights based on the female DCI professional narratives and an emerging theory of Digital Agency.

3. Yana BREINDL: Technopolitical activism and gender gaps Despite general increases in women's representation and participation in most areas of the political process, significant gender gaps remain in important fields. This is the case of techno-political activism whose members stem from a predominantly maledominated hacker culture. Technology has been masculinized and controlled by an elite for thousands of years. While women movements claimed equal rights for men and women, the development of computers and their growing interconnection that led to the internet remained a male prerogative. This presentation proposes to explore the presence of (or lack of) women in techno-political movements whose aim is to influence current debates on intellectual property rights, internet regulation and civil rights in digital environments. On the basis of case studies of two movements currently active at the European level, we explore what appears to be gender-based work divisions, the roles occupied by the few women active in these movements and, their perception by their male counterparts. 4. Carla GANITO & Ctia FERREIRA: Scripting gender in mobile phones: How traditional gender stereotypes influence producers in the Portuguese mobile industry. The mobile phone is an interesting technology to study on the scope of gender, because contrary to other technologies, especially computers and the Internet, mobile phones have been adopted almost identically by men and women around the globe. Nevertheless egalitarian does not mean equal. On the supply side, mobile phone companies either neglect this difference or use traditional gender stereotypes to deal with it. They seem to design phones to match the traditional female and the male cultures embedding technology with what Ellen van Oost designates by Gender Scripts. The focus of this paper is to unveil and understand constrains producers have in the interpretation of mobile phones use by women, and the impact of this scripting on womens appropriation of this technology. A qualitative methodology will be used based on interviews to marketing and human resource directors and analysis of marketing campaigns for new product launches.

5. Bridget BLODGETT: Inside Outsider: The role of researcher gender at the intersection
of video game and culture studies. Internet and video game cultures remain dominated by a hyper-masculine rhetoric that is often discouraging to women and non-dominant cultural groups, keeping them from full participation within the community. Despite increasing numbers of users among these nondominant groups, the infamous saying- There are no women on the Internet remains not only popular but almost reified among the video game groups. This paper will examine how the perceived gender of the researcher shapes the communication of protest events and categorizations of other groups within the virtual world. Drawing from two case studies in virtual worlds this research was developed through interviews, discourse analysis, and researcher observations. A gender lens will be used to look at how researcher gender affects assumptions about insider and cultural knowledge. The authors hope to examine the positive and negatives effects of researcher gender presentation in virtual environments for the gaining of detailed information regarding in-game or cultural artifacts or occurrences.

BIOGRAPHIES

Anitza GENEVE

Anitza Geneve is a scholarship PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Queensland University of Technology. Anitza has taught in both the vocational education sector in Australia and the United Kingdom and university level as a sessional lecturer. She has held a teaching position with Southbank Institute of Technology, Brisbane, for over ten years, were she specialises in the design and development of multimedia, screen and games products. Her PhD research topic explores influences on womens participation in the multimedia and games product sector of the Australia Digital Content Industry through a lens of human 'digital' agency.

Bridget BLODGETT

Bridget is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the College of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University. She has recently completed her third year of graduate classes and successfully defended her dissertation proposal in December of 2008. Her research involves the use of technology in virtual worlds and the social impacts of virtual worlds on offline life. Her dissertation research focuses on how technology impacts protest movements in virtual worlds. She is currently engaged as a research assistant on the EVOSTA project studying the virtual community that surrounds the use of the Hi-Res CT scanner at Penn State. Bridget has her undergraduate degree from the College of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University. Where she focused on the Design and Development of technology.

Yana BREINDL

Yana Breindl is a Ph.D candidate in Information and Communication Sciences at the Universit Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. She holds a Bachelor and Master's degree in Information and Communication Sciences with a specialisation in Journalism (2007). Her academic work deals with digital activism that aims at influencing European decision-making. She is particularly interested in the articulation between traditional politics and so-called "life-politics" and the link between online and offline realms.
Carla GANITO

Carla Ganito is a doctoral student in the Human Sciences Faculty at Portuguese Catholic University, where she also lectures Digital Communication and Marketing at the undergraduate level. Her PhD focuses on gender appropriations of the mobile phone in Portugal. She holds a Master of Management and her dissertation dealt with the impact of mobility in the Portuguese Content Industry. Besides her PhD research, Carla's main research areas are entertainment, gender and technology, new media and education. She is the author of the book: "The Mobile Phone as Entertainment2 (2006) where she traces the mobile entertainment trends in Portugal.
Ctia FERREIRA:

Ctia Ferreira is PhD researcher on Communication Sciences at the Portuguese Catholic University. Her area of research is communication, new technologies and virtual games and the object of study will be the social change in Second Life. She is graduated in English and German Modern Languages and Literatures, and has a specialization in publishing and editing techniques, both from the Lisbon University. She has a MA on Communication Sciences from Portuguese Catholic University. Her masters degree dissertation was focused in the relation established between the Portuguese emigrants in the USA and the homeland through the new technologies as internet.

DRAFT PAPERS

Nria Vergs Bosch Gender and ICT Research Programme. IN3. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Copolis Research Group. Universitat de Barcelona. Donestech Collective

Alex Hache Donestech Collective

Eva Cruells Lopez Donestech Collective

Deciphering LeLa's Code: Digging in the significance of the Internet for the ICT access, uses and desires of women technologists

Abstract

Research on gender and technology has traditionally focused on studying the exclusion of women in ICT. In contrast, technologist womens experiences and their strategies leading to their inclusion in ICT have received less attention. Motivated by our previous experience in technoactivism and the observation of a remarkable presence of women, within the Donestech Collective, we initiated a research project on the access, uses of and desires of women who had been involved in technology. For this we created a website, gathered information on women and technology, generated and participated in meetings and workshops and, especially, collected experiences of women technologists. A call was made through the Internet to answer a semi-qualitative questionnaire online and, besides that, several in-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted in different Spanish Regions. Our findings suggest a great diversity of women pathways to ICT as well as heterogeneous technological practices among women technologists where Internet plays a significant role. Moreover, our results show that women in ICT are curious and enthusiastic, want to be empowered, are willing to share the knowledge gained with others, distrust and dislike power relations existing in the technological environments and try to maintain a critical and creative attitude towards technology.

Keywords: technology, ICT, gender, learning, desires, e-Inclusion, Internet, activist research, feminisms, cyberfeminism, Donestech

Introduction In the 90s, the feminist theory of technology experienced a renewed optimism with the rise of ICT and the development of the third-wave feminism. Departing from the potential of new technologies, in particular Internet, for the transformation of society and women, feminism is loaded with assurance through a practical and theoretical renovation supporting the participation of women in technology encouraged by its opportunities for gender transformation (Haraway, 1991; Plant, 1997; Wajcman, 2006; Sveningsen and Sunden, 2007; Landstrom, 2007, among others). This research criticizes gender inequalities, and emphasizes on the possibilities for women participation through ICT in order to overcome these disparities. This potential for transformation lies in the provision of new possibilities for appropriation by women of these new technologies underlining their horizontal development processes (Hawthorne and Klein, 1999; Nuez and Garcia, 2009) the production of new spaces to occupy like cyberspace (Flanagan and Booth, 2002; Sveningsen and Sunden, 2007), and, above all, the power to de-construct predetermined categories and binaries applying to gender (Haraway, 1991; Landstrom, 2007) and upon the interpretation of what stands for technology (Lerman et al, 2003; Wacjman, 2006). However, research focusing on the analysis of the presence of women in ICT has tended to concentrate on mechanisms explaining their exclusion from ICT (Cohoon and Aspray, 2006; Castao, 2008). Experiences and strategies of women technologists to enter technological fields have received less attention. As noted by several researchers (Sorensen, 2002; Lagesen, 2007, Faulkner and Lie, 2007), there is a need for a more in-depth understanding of current mechanisms of inclusion. This brought our collective of women and new technologies, Donestech (Dones is the Catalan word for Women and tech refers to technology), to be specifically interested by processes of inclusion (e-Inclusion and social inclusion with ICT) and the understanding of pathways for learning developed by women who already accede, use and/or develop technologies. For instance, part of feminist literature of technology has identified certain motivations that trigger the interest of women for technologies. This can be summarized, according to Sorensen (2002), as duty, expressing an utilitarian motivation, and love, expressing an enthusiastic motivation. Interestingly, feminist literature suggests duty as the first motivation attributed to women while love is attributed to men. Accordingly this gender distribution of motivations denies and renders the experiences of access to technologies by women, driven by enthusiasm, invisible (Sorensen, 2002; Lagesen, 2008). Previous literature related to gender e-Inclusion has already identified a number of auspicious factors facilitating the entrance and immersion of women in technology (Margolis and Fisher, 2001; Sorensen, 2002; Lagesen, 2007, 2008, Faulkner and Lie, 2007). In summary, the first factor identifies the importance of a context that is potentially (or is perceived as) women friendly. In this regard, the existence of tools, spaces and contents of interest and/or

useful for women is a necessity (this is the second factor). Thirdly, as with any other type of learning dynamics, there is a need for available training resources and access to information. Fourthly, infrastructures and facilities to access ICT (e.g. broadband, computers, other devices) are still very much relevant pointing therefore at the importance of policies to develop eInclusion initiatives targeting the entrance and use of information and knowledge societies by all, anywhere and anytime. Fifth, the existence of role models and other mentoring, tutoring and support mechanisms is important. It can be achieved either by shedding light on the role of women in the development of sciences and technologies, or by enabling mechanisms, spaces and groups aiming at transferring their knowledge on ICT issues to their peers. Finally, the perception by women of career prospects and employment opportunities related to ICT is highly relevant. Thus, taking into account these elements constitutes a pre-requisite to enable the access and inclusion of women into technologies, inasmuch as it empowers them to become more deeply involved by participating also into ICT design and development from an active, critical and emancipatory perspective.

Cyberfeminist activist research Motivated by our own technoactivist experiences and the observation of a significant presence of women in these areas of participation in 2006 within the Donestech collective, we began a process of activist research regarding the access, uses and desires of women already involved in technology. Our purpose was to offer new platforms of expression and analysis of their experiences and views, while we intended to decipher lela's code about why and how women participate in technologies, investigating which desires were expressed regarding both technologies and (the women) themselves. We wondered about why women acceded to technologies, through which pathways, enablers, tools, and which type of tactics they were developing to address or overcome limiting conditions and be able to build a relationship with technologies. All this to make visible the specificities of women in ICT, enhance access of women to technology, consider the relationships of women with ICT and ourselves, continue creating networks and incorporating technologies in our research and in our technoactivist practices. As stated in our manifesto, we have been entangled, more and more and more ... so the LeLa's Code Project, has become a megaproject related to and that relates women with technology. Our cyberfeminist activist research is based on an intensive use and practice with ICT which intends through the production of critical knowledge, creative action, social and techno artivism to generate political and social gender transformations from a dynamic, fluid, heterogeneous and performative perspective (Vergs et al, 2009). In order to do so, we created a website (www.donestech.net), collected information, generated and participated in meetings, workshops, training and, we focused in mapping, identifying, compiling, analysing and communicating experiences and views of women technologists who generously lent their time to share their experiences with us. Although we were initially based in Barcelona, Donestech collective increasingly became highly present in the cyberspace and its members increasingly became nomads. Therefore we tend to collect and disseminate information in different languages such as Catalan, Spanish, English and French.

Specifically, in 2007 an open call was made, simulating the snowball technique via specialized mailing lists, specific groups related to women and ICT and the Internet to respond to a semi-qualitative on-line survey. In parallel, between 2007 and 2008, we also conducted multiple face-to-face interviews and discussion groups. Although we iniciated our research in our Catalan context, soon we extended it to the Spanish context with some international insights (Donestech, 2008). Knowledge presented in this article is based on 302 online surveys (78% of them residents in the Spanish State), over 60 in-depth interviews of women technologists carried out in Barcelona and in technology related international events and four focus groups with women technologists carried out in three different Spanish Regions: Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid. Collection, analysis and dissemination was developed through a three-pronged approach based on content analysis, an intense use of technologies connected to cyberfeminist practices and transdisciplinarity. Thus, various disciplines such as sociology, statistics, computer sciences, interactive visualizations, multimedia, audiovisual production and artivism have been involved.

Internet as a powerful enabler for the access, uses and desires of women technologists Our research did not start from rigid or predetermined definitions of women and technology, in order to avoid to fall into a predefined and specific universe of women technologists. Women participating in our research consider themselves as advanced users of ICT and because of this shared experience they tended to define themselves as women technologists. On one side, profiles proved to be diverse and heterogeneous among advanced users, creators and developers of ICT involved. On the other side, our statistic and content analysis of the surveyed sample brought a set of predominant socio-economic characteristics to light. The latter consists in relatively young women, living in big cities, college educated, gainfully employed with an upper-middle social position even tough their financial earnings are more or less in the one thousand Euros monthly range . Mostly they are single with a partner, usually without persons at charge or dependants and with some free time to spend. Those elements imply that the development of e-Inclusion strategies should take into account, besides the gender factor, socio-demographic and socio-economic inequalities caused by place of origin, class and age. Needless to say, elderly, immigrants, ethnics minorities, residents of rural and deprived areas, uneducated or low income women can be doubly excluded in their possibility to accede, use and develop technologies. Also, a gap in time can be noted regarding the first memory of contact with technology and more advanced and conscious technological immersion. Conscious immersion generally takes place many years after first contact. First experiences with ICT are related, by order of relevance, to: formative experiences, use and appropriation of various ICT devices, using Internet, performing tasks with specific programs, and finally gaming as well as development and experiences of use of ICT within activism. In relation to many first experiences Internet plays a significant role, either because of its meaning in regard to information search capabilities, either for its communicational aspects through the creation of a first e-mail or first time use of e-mail, chat and equivalents. For instance a women graduated in Wellness Management Systems told us: My first access was to use Internet and creating my first email account.

Motivations behind this first access bear upon curiosity, passion for technology, but also training and employment needs. Thus the view that motivations of women based on enthusiasm should be (re)considered and enhanced in order to promote the access to ICT by many others is confirmed by our research. Moreover, one motivation can easily lead to another, as shown by the testimony of this Web developer and expert in digital marketing: At the beginning I used it for office applications and labour issues, then I used Internet for fun and fascination. Factors that have made their access to ICT possible are, in order of relevance though often overlapping with each other, first through training and work, and then because of a financial wellness to purchase connection and ICT household, third a socio-affective environment related to or motivated by technologies, fourth the existence of the Internet and its communicational opportunities, and, finally, other elements such as having free time or having personal and professional requirements to use ICT. Thus, Internet is again felt as a key enabling factor for the access of women to technology. In that regard, a journalist and film-maker told us that: Having a computer at home and Internet at a very young age, and the fact of studying Communication and constantly the need to use computers, manuals, video editing, layout tools [enabled her to access technology] In terms of access and production of knowledge in order to learn how to use and/or develop ICT, women technologists combine different approaches, again generally activated simultaneously, but in which the autodidact way predominates combined - or not - with formal training. If we look at formal academic courses, almost half of the participants didn't pursue scientific and/or technical studies, but rather social sciences or humanities. Furthermore, women with a disciplinary scientific-technical background show an equally pronounced split between different disciplines. Autodidact pathways of learning, whether or not combined with courses, are again marked by the presence of the Internet. Women learn through forums and online communities, they search and download information via the Internet (texts and audiovisual contents) and they develop an extensive communication with their referential social networks on the Internet. As shown by the testimony of a photographer, video and radio producer: I am an autodidact, as also are my friends which have given me tips, I go also to Internet discussion forums when it comes to software, buy books and in general ask a lot of questions. With regard to uses, our sample shows a great level of diversity in working and in the area of technological applications. Women technologists develop anything from website to hardware devices, build art installations, manage and administer databases and servers, analyse computer processes, produce electronic music, audiovisual, podcasts. They teach and train ICT, provide help and develop How to's, documentation and manuals. They write posts, blogs and e-poetry and they sew and wash clothes with domestic appliances. Less commonly encountered occupations might relate to hardware maintenance, network administration and security issues. Also noteworthy is the use and knowledge of free software, especially by creators and developers of ICT. Once again Internet plays and important role as enabler of knowledge processes making possible to find, download and test applications, accede to learning spaces and other areas for communication, documentation and socializing surrounding communities of development of Free Software.

Women technologists' interest in learning about and disseminating free software and free applications can be also highlighted and interpreted as a mean for gender transformation. This fact is particularly interesting because of stereotypes stating that women are not (interested) in free software and thus contributing to its transforming potential. As told to us by a digital artist:That's why we need free software, in French operating system is called systme d'exploitation, then I suppose that owning your proper operating/exploitation system is the minimum, and change it as you want is the least of the minimum. Also the idea of sharing and exchanging together is powerful. There are no copies, everyone has the original, the possibility of sharing the same things is important. In addition, our analysis shows that technological practice is not as solitary and asocial as is commonly believed. In this sense Internet plays a crucial role not only as a repository for documentation, but also as a space of communication and interaction for lifelong learning, inasmuch as it is a place where to develop new electronic identities, social capital and networks of support, solidarity and friendship. A topographical engineer expressed it thus: Exchange of geomatic information with other departments just works fine. In my private life I am a regular user of Internet forums as a source of information and knowledge and exchange with peers. Women technologists are also critical with current ICT development and have expressed individual and collective needs and desires of improvement. For instance, almost all women surveyed aim at learning more and being able to do more (things) with technology. Among them, once again, tasks and skills closely related to Internet such as improving knowledge for Web development, transmission of contents over the Internet or information management are clearly pointed out at as priorities. As a high school teacher expressed it: I want more choice of video creation tools, image and web and I want to be introduced to radio on Internet and participate to joint projects that can be disseminated over the Internet. But they also want to improve their learning and practices in order to develop them in better conditions. Internet is seen as a necessary means to create and maintain areas of content creation, sharing and networking. In this sense women recognize its potential for social and gender transformation by improving conditions of access and use. Therefore they demand technologies and an Internet designed to be accessible, shaped by flows of free knowledge and information, with more security and more autonomy and of course remaining economically suitable and sustainable. This was expressed by a statistical computing engineer: Regarding barriers of access, phone companies and Internet Service Providers should be more controlled and provide better service in Spain where it is still very expensive. Finally, women technologists want better working conditions and better distribution of time facilities. In general, they claim against existent gender discrimination, especially gender stereotypes that suggest that women are misplaced or exotic freaks in the domain of ICT. This was underlined by a student in Industrial Engineering: I wish people didn't look surprised when you're a girl and say that you are also a student of electronics, and a computer-geek

Conclusions

Women technologists access and use technologies in many and diverse ways. Practices and immersion with ICT provide from non linear trajectories where Internet plays an important role as an enabler and facilitator. The analysis of women technologists' experiences and views underlines the importance that should be paid to non formal and informal pathways, as enablers to enthusiast motivations for the access and gaining of knowledge by women on ICT. The heterogeneity and fluidity of practices invested also resonates with the variety of sociabilities taking place currently inside the so called technological field, analysis of the latter points at the persistence of gender discriminations. Therefore in order to overcome those more research is needed, as well as policies enabling the activation of interests and concerns to acquire further ICT skills by women, the recognition of the potential and central role of the Internet and ICTs for gender and social transformation and, finally, the need for inclusive measures should be addressed, geared towards the multidimensional aspects of the relationship between gender and technologies.

Aknowledgements To Patrice Riemens for his kind revision of English. We would like to express our great appreciation to all participants for sharing their lives and time with us.

References

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Anitza Geneve Queensland University of Technology

Theme: Internet and an equal and balanced society Quantity and Quality: Patterns of Female Engagement with ICTs: Five Acts of Agency
Abstract Research concerned with womens engagement with ICT has commonly focused on studying the barriers women face accessing and using technology. Recent research identifies the growing parity of technology use between the genders. 1 There is however, little research that considers why there are fewer women, than men, creating the digital content that such technology facilitates access to. This paper discusses findings from a case study which sought to understand the participation of female Interactive Content Creators in the Australian Digital Content Industry (DCI). 2 The paper is divided into three parts. The first part briefly introduces the case study. The second part reflects on the research approach, which consists of the critical realist philosophical underpinnings and the lens of agency as a theoretical scaffold. The third provides an insight into the type of findings this research approach offers. This is exemplified by the proposed five Acts of Agency which synthesise the empirical, philosophical and theoretical insights. Introduction This paper emerges from a case study focusing on the experiences of female Interactive Content Creators employed within the Australian Digital Content Industry (DCI). The DCI is characterised by two aspects, firstly, in its adoption of technology to create digital content. 3 Secondly, like in the ICT context, women are under-represented in certain occupational roles. Male workers almost completely dominate the core content creation roles (such as design, programming and visual arts) (Deuze et al, 2007, p. 346). Hence, the case study aims to understand the influences on womens participation. The case study data, collected between 2007-2009, included interviews with women employed in multimedia or games production organisations. Secondary sources of data include stakeholder interviews and documents such as industry blogs. The findings suggest that there are a diverse range of influences on participation. These manifest across different levels; environment, individual and the mediating relationships between. Previous research in the ICT context identifies the need to focus on the relationships between the complex mixture of factors (von Hellens and Nielsen, 2001, p. 52). Ahuja (2002) noting it is not sufficient to examine these factors in isolation from one another, as the IS literature on gender has done so far (p. 22). These relationships potentially hold the key to addressing the declining interest
See for example Women on the Web:How Women are Shaping the Internet (2010) and Brand (2007) As defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Culture and Leisure Classification occupation of Interactive Content Creator class (267). 3 Digital content includes; websites, mobile phone applications and computer/console based game products
2 1

in IT educational and vocational paths (von Hellens et al, 2007, p.3). Hence, the interaction between the person and their environment forms a key analytical focus of the study. Research Approach In the early stages of the study the researcher looked to the related ICT domain as there were few empirical or conceptual studies in the DCI context, and fewer that focused on womens experiences. Notable exceptions include Gill (2002) and Perrons (2003) in the United Kingdom and Europe and Roan and Whitehouse (2007) in Australia. Beyond sensitising the researcher to possible influences that women may experience, these studies raised theoretical and ontological considerations. First, there is a need to understand the phenomenon of womens participation from a theoretical perspective (Trauth et al, 2005; Trauth et al, 2004). Yet, few of the studies in the ICT domain use theory to explain findings (Adam et al, 2004). Hence, there is scope to draw on existing theory to foster an explanation of the phenomenon. Secondly, there is a need to unify what Quesenberry (2006) describes as the fragmented insights from previous research. Such fragmentation may arise from studies that focus on one level or slice of data. Hence, there is a need for a multi level relational analysis. This fragmentation may also arise by only seeing the data from one perspective, for example, objective or subjective. Different paradigmatic approaches, such as critical and constructivist, can bring different insights to the same phenomenon (Howcroft and Trauth, 2008). Accordingly, the research approach adopted two lenses with which to further conceptualise the interaction between the environment and the individual. The first was theoretical and the second stemmed from the critical realist philosophy or paradigmatic stance underpinning the study. The theoretical lens drew on agency theories such as Giddens Structuration Theory (1984). Agency theories offer several strengths such as a sensitivity to gender and a focus on recognising both constraining and enabling influences. Due to the limitations of space, the theoretical lens is not directly explored further in this paper. The following reflection is towards the strengths of the critical realist philosophy underpinning the study. The phenomenon of womens participation or under representation is complex (Coohon and Aspray, 2006). Adding to this complexity is that female researchers face difficult decisions regarding their choice of research approach. Key paradigmatic approaches such as positivist are critiqued for being essentialist and determinist (Trauth et al, 2008) and constructivist for leaving little room for individual differences (Trauth et a l, 2004) between women. Although a critical approach may sensitise a researcher to axiological considerations, a focus on a narrow set of ideological concerns such as power may limit explanatory potential. 4 Such limitations may leave a researcher feeling that the research approach itself forms a barrier in understanding womens participation. Yet, in recent times there has been a quiet methodological revolution leading to a blurring and shifting in paradigmatic positions (Denzin and Lincoln, 2008, p. 264). Critical Realism (from herein CR) provides an approach that bridges paradigmatic stances (Olsen, 2008). Although CR is described as a philosophy in search of a method (Yeung, 1997), this leaves a certain openness to the choice of method (Mingers, 2002). Hence, there is a shift away from primarily epistemological to ontological concerns. A CR approach involves understanding the
Critical here refers to critical theory often associated with feminist research. This is to be distinguished from the Critical Realist approach.
4

phenomenon as manifesting in a stratified reality or domains of reality comprised of the empirical, actual and real domains (Bhaskar, 1978). Identification of mechanisms within the real domain is the key goal for the critical realist. An example of mechanisms is cultural norms. Therefore, the mechanisms themselves may not be directly visible, yet we can interpret their causal effects. Consequently, identifying mechanisms requires a high level of abstraction on behalf of the researcher. This is not unlike critical discourse which, may not directly observe power yet can identify its causal consequences. In addition, the CR approach recognises the value of the subjective insights from those under study. Yet, unlike interpretivist approaches is not limited to those. It also involves the objectivity of the research and also draws on objective data, which in itself strengthens confidence in finding's through data triangulation. Hence, a CR approach provides a way to link empirical experiences to abstracted objects of knowledge. Synthesis- Five Acts of Agency The following insights are a synthesis of the empirical case study data, the theoretical scaffold and the critical realist underpinnings. The Acts of Agency aim to illuminate the mechanisms involved in an agent driven agentic act. There are five non hierarchical Acts of Agency; enabled, connected, collaborative, creative and human. 1. Enabled - An individuals capability to participate is fostered when they are enabled through access to technology, information and people (for example, mentors). Previous research, often offers statistical data that reports on access. For example, the recent report Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet (2010) presents data such as the total minutes spent by women in accessing social networking sites. Issues of access to technology dominated early digital divide discussions (see Castells, 1996) and it remains an important influence on participation. For example, in participation in virtualised protests, access to a computer (with specialized software) and the Internet are seen as necessary (Blodgett, 2009). Yet contemporary researchers may observe seemingly more equitable access (e.g. affordability and literacy) 5 as reflected by our participation in politics via online Twittering 6 and embracing YouTube 7 as a new model of communication (Bruns, 2008). These changes occurring primarily in the previous eight years but now seemingly entrenched in everyday life in Australia. In this time there has been a corresponding increase in the number of women using technology and digital products associated with the DCI. Where a decade ago girls and women who played computer games where seen as oddities (Taylor, 2008), now almost half of Australian gamers are female (Brand, 2007). Womens participation in the DCI is closely linked to wider social patterns of technology adoption. Several women, interviewed for the case study, emphasised that access to a computer in their early childhood fostered their interest in technology. Later in life they identified that access to online resources fostered their participation in the industry. For example, the women described how they used online social networking such as Facebook, MySpace, Digg (M7) to access resources, such as programming code. 8 Yet, although the constraints of accessing cyberspace have largely closed what remains is a concern that women are still vastly underrepresented in the fields
5 6

Not to downplay the existing digital divide concerns in Australia and other countries. Twitter is an online social media networking website 7 YouTube is an online website that facilitates the sharing of video content 8 M7 indicates that this is a case study participant who works in the multimedia organisation.

that design digital technology (Jenkins and Cassell, 2008, p1). Although having access to resources there are other related influences. previously females didnt use computers as much. I remember I was the only girl out of all who used computers when we were growing up. No one else used it. Well, now everyone uses it. Everyone has their MySpace or their Facebook so they have confidence in using computers, interacting with computers and so possibly that could translate at the end of the day that they could see a degree and [being] exposed to so many games and so many things, they might think oh Id really like to be able to do that(M7). 2. Connected -The Acts of Agency also emphasises that participation is more than access to technology and other resources. The mechanism of connecting involved the women in the study either visualising their participation or developing confidence in their capability. Yet, many women do not connect to a DCI career path due to the lack of role models. Furthermore, the negative stereotypes which surround womens capacity towards technology can lead to their lower self-efficacy. Gaining mastery skills fostered a sense of connecting. 3. Collaborative - Participation involves more than just the ability to do the job. A key agent driven Act of Agency is to be collaborative, which leads to a sense of fitting in, belonging and sharing. Yet, due to the male majority in the DCI, which leads to a masculine culture, to fit in means being one of the boys(G2, G7). 4. Creative - Creativity (which involves problem-solving and transformational capacity) as an underlying mechanism manifested in a number of ways for the women in the DCI context. A majority of women described how being creative was important for them as individuals. I felt like I was expressing a lot of creativity in this work. (G8). Women had left previous careers due to limited opportunities for creativity. The things that I didnt enjoy about it was that its not a creative industry (G7). 9 Creativity may also underpin participation in online environments. For example one of the key reasons for maintaining a blog is given as creative expression (Lenhart & Fox, 2006). 5. Human - Human Acts of Agency involve the underpinning mechanisms of emotion. Passion was identified by several participants as a key driver of their participation. I think the only reason you would enter games because you've got a passion for games (G1). I love games and creating games and I don't see any barriers because I am a girl. I think if you are passionate something, then you go after it(G6).The emotion of passion is also identifed in one of the few other studies of women in the Australian DCI (see Roan and Whitehouse, 2007). However, emotions are not often considered by researchers, being seen as dirty work and usually associated with the private sphere (Lewis and Simpson, 2007, p. 184). Yet, emotions exist in the public sphere, including workplaces. A specific emotion, such as trust, can lead to women engaging more readily with certain resources. And I just think if someones got their blog up you can often sort of tell by the fact that theyve had a blog for a long time, people have been engaging with it for a long time [] this makes me trust this person more, yeah. (M8) Conclusion
9

G7 indicates that this is a case study participant who works in a games organisation.

This paper has provided insights into the types of findings a CR approach may foster. That is, fostering cross paradigmatic insights of a stratified reality. It has also proposed that agency theory provides a suitable theoretical approach as it recognises not only the constraints but also enablers an individual faces. The paper reports on a research approach that aims for an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that foster an individuals agency and ultimately their participation. It presents an approach that may unify a wide range of theoretical approaches and paradigmatic stances which, present challenges to researchers who aim for a unified and holistic understanding of the phenomenon.

References
Adam, A., Howcroft, D. & Richardson, H. (2004) A decade of neglect: reflecting on gender and IS, New Technology Work and Employment, 19(3). Ahuja, M. (2002) Women in the information technology profession: a literature review, synthesis and research agenda. European Journal of Information Systems. 11, 2034. Bhaskar, R. (1978) The Realist Theory of Science, 2nd edition, Brighton: The Harvester Press. Blodgett, B. M. (2009) And the ringleaders were banned: an examination of protest in virtual worlds. In Proceedings of the Fourth international Conference on Communities and Technologies, University Park, PA, USA, June 25 27, 2009. ACM: New York, NY, 135-144. Brand, J. (2007) Interactive Australia 2007:facts about the Australian computer and video game industry, Humanities & Social Sciences papers. Bruns, A. (2008) Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond : From Production to Produsage. Digital Formations, 45. Peter Lang:New York. Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society (The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Volume 1, Network Society), Oxford: Blackwell. Cohoon, J. M., & Aspray, W. Ed.(2006) Women and Information Technology: Research on Under-Representation. Massachusetts. MIT Press. Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.) (2008)The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Deuze, M., Martin, C., & Allen, C. (2007) The professional identity of gameworkers. Convergence, 13(4), 335353. Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society, Polity Press, Cambridge. Gill, R. (2002) Cool, Creative and Egalitarian? Exploring Gender in Project-Based New Media Work in Europe. Information, Communication and Society, 5(1), 70-89. Howcroft, D. & Trauth, E. (2008) The Implications of a Critical Agenda in Gender and IS Research, Information Jenkins, H & Cassell, J (2008) From Quake Grrls to Desperate Housewives: A Decade of Gender and Computer Games. Y. Kafai, C. Heeter, J. Denner, & J. Sun (eds.) Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Lenhart, A., & Fox, S. (2006) Pew Internet and American Life Project. Bloggers: A portrait of the Internet's new storytellers http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bloggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.pdf Mingers, J. (2002) Real-izing Information Systems: Critical Realism as an Underpinning Philosophy for Information Systems. ICIS 2002. Paper 27. Olsen, W. K.(2008) Realist Ontology and Epistemology for Rural Research. Brooks World Poverty Institute Working Paper No. 53. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1297186 Perrons, D. (2003) The New Economy and the Work-Life Balance: Conceptual Explorations and a Case Study of New Media, Gender, Work & Organization. 10(1), 6593. Quesenberry, J. (2006) Career anchors and organizational culture: a study of women in the IT workforce. In Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGMIS CPR Conference on Computer Personnel Research: Forty Four Years of Computer Personnel Research: Achievements, Challenges & the Future, Claremont, California, USA. New York. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1125170.1125249 Roan, A. M. & Whitehouse, G. M. (2007) Women, information technology and 'waves of optimism': Australian evidence on 'mixed-skill' jobs. New Technology Work and Employment, 22 (1), 21-33. Systems Journal, 18, 185202.

Taylor, T.L (2008) Becoming a Player: Networks, Structures, and Imagined Futures, In Y. Kafai, C. Heeter, J. Denner, and J. Sun (eds.) Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender, Games, and Computing, Cambridge: The MIT Press Trauth, E., Quesenberry, J., & Morgan, A. (2004). Understanding the Under Representation of Women in IT: Toward a Theory of Individual Differences. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGMIS Computer Personnel Research Conference: Careers, culture, and ethics in a networked environment, SIGMIS'04, April 22-24, 2004. Tucson. AZ, USA: ACM Press. Trauth, E., Quesenberry, J., & Yeo, B. (2005). The influence of environmental context on women in the IT workforce. In Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGMIS CPR Conference on Computer Personnel Research, April 14 - 16, 2005. Atlanta, Georgia, USA. SIGMIS CPR '05. ACM, New York, 2431. Trauth, E.M, Quesenberry, J.L & Huang, H (2008) A multicultural analysis of factors influencing career choice for women in the information technology workforce. Journal of Global Information Management 16(4), 123. von Hellens, L., Nielsen, S., Clayton, K. & Beekhuyzen, J. (2007) Conceptualising Gender and IT: Australians Taking Action in Germany, Proceedings of QualIT2007 - Qualitative Research in IT & IT in Qualitative Research, 19-20 November. Wellington, New Zealand. von Hellens. L., & Nielsen. S. (2001) Australian women in IT. Communications of the ACM, 44(7), 46-52. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/379300.379310 Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet. (2010), Comscore whitepaper. Retrieved http://www.mmetrics.com/ger/layout/set/popup/request/Presentations/2010/Women_on_the_Web_German_PDF_ Request?req=slides&pre=Women+on+the+Web%3A+How+Women+are+Shaping+the+Internet Yeung, H. W. C. (1997) Critical realism and realist research in human geography: A method or a philosophy in search of a method?, Progress in Human Geography, 21, 5174. Lewis, P. & Simpson, R. (2007) Gendering Emotions in Organizations. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Gender in European Technopolitical Activism: An Exploratory Study Panel presentation Quantity and Quality: Patterns of Female Engagement with ICTs IR.11.0 Gothenburg, Sweden
Author: Yana Breindl - Universit Libre de Bruxelles - (ybreindl@ulb.ac.be)

Despite general increases in women's representation and participation in most areas of the political process, significant gender gaps remain in important fields. This is the case of technopolitical activism whose members stem from a predominantly male-dominated hacker culture. Technology has been masculinized and controlled by an elite for thousands of years. While women movements claimed equal rights for men and women, the development of computers and their growing interconnection that led to the internet became a male prerogative. This presentation proposes to explore the presence of (or lack of) women in techno-political movements whose aim is to influence current debates on intellectual property rights, internet regulation and civil rights in digital environments. On the basis of in-depth interviews with activists from various digital rights movements currently active at the European level, we explore what appear to be gender-based work divisions, the roles occupied by women active in these movements and, how they are perceived by their male counterparts. We start with a brief overview of gender in computer science, and more particularly the free and open source software movement (FLOSS), from which much technopolitical activism stems.

1 Gender gap in computer science

Since the 1980s, more and more men took up computer science while at the same time, the part of women is rapidly decreasing. Isabelle Collet (2006) investigated this phenomena and argues that the representation, women and men have of the profession of a computer scientist is differentiated. She tried to understand the imaginary of passionate computer programmers generally referred to as hackers to understand why the computer is conceived of as a window to a virtual universe of rules where programmers play to be God. When studying the discourses of female scientists, Collet found out that the representation of computer scientists is incarnated in these hackers. This representation weights mainly on women who find it difficult to find their place in those communities.

Examining gender rates in computer science courses in France from 1971 to 2001, Collet concludes that the real question to ask is not why are there less and less women in computer science courses (as their number is stable) but why are there more and more boys? (2006: 49, bold in original). Indeed, all statistics indicate that the part of women in computer science curses remained stable from 1971 to 2001 while the part of men vertiginously increased from the early 1980s. In some schools, women even outnumbered men, as was the case at the INSA of Rennes (France) in 1979 (55% of women) and 1980 (50% of women). However, around the year 2000, women only represented 15% of the graduates in computer science courses. This situation is also characteristic of other european countries, especially Germany and the UK. In the United States, the part of women decreased by 10% from 1980 to 2000, totaling 28% in 2001. All statistics available attest of a sudden and massive increase in male interest in computer science in the 1980s while female interest seemed to remain stable or decreased (Collet, 2006; Cohoon & Aspray, 2006). Collet argues that computer science has been perceived as a largely administrative work in the 1970s, yet this has changed in the 1980s with the introduction of micro-computers that changed the representation of the profession. Nowadays, computer science can be divided into a noblesse d'pe (nobles of the sword) and a noblesse de robe (nobles of the gown). Most developers are involved in managing information systems. For Collet, you can find there 'reasonable' developers who consider computer science like any other job (2006: 39). The 'noblesse d'pe' is constituted by scientific or industrial computer scientists: visual representation, computer visualiation, medical computer science, computer science applied to mathematics or physics or computer security and parts of computer networks. This is where one can find passionate programmers usually called hackers (Collet, 2006).

2 The hacker imaginary

When thinking about hackers, the media clich of a computer criminal often comes to mind. However, true hackers are computer aficionados who share a common ethic. This ethic has been summarised by Levy as promoting open access to computers, informational freedom, the mistrust of authority, decentralisation judgements based upon hacking skills alone, the possibility to create art and beauty on computers, and the belief that computers can change life for the better (1984: 27-33). It is a culture of technological creativity based on freedom, cooperation, reciprocity, and informality, argues Castells (2001: 50). The free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) movement finds its roots in this hacker culture (Thomas, 2002), and is arguably one of its most politically oriented extensions. For Collet, this visible minority of passionate computer programmers whose ambiguous image attracts, fascinates or repels became the reference of practices and discourses (206: 283). Her study of discourses of female computer scientists shows that the representation of computer scientists has incarnated itself in the hacker, echoing research by Turkle (1988) and Hapnes and Rasmussen (1991).

In the FLOSS community, the hacker imaginary is particularly vivid while few women are involved in it. In 2004, there were 28% of women involvement in proprietary software development. At the same time, less than 2% of FLOSS developers were women (FLOSSPOLS, 2006). Drawing upon this first FLOSSPOLS study, Hanna Wallach (2010) argues that there is an active but unconscious exclusion of women in FLOSS communities. Many things are considered as off-putting for women but are not perceived as such by men: jokes about women, identifying women as examples of nontechnical users, assuming that women are simply not interested in software development, the perception that coding is superior to any other skills while women active in software development are often involved in other activities (e.g. bug fixing, documentation, organising events, social tasks etc.) considered as inferior, not real programming. This is accentuated in the FLOSS world, while in the proprietary software world, social tasksare much more valued and necessary to create an end product. In the FLOSS world, the general leitmotiv is to just make it work(Wallach, 2010). Furthermore, women tend to get involved in computing at a later stage, their skills are not recognised as much as their gender (they are also often perceived as potential romantic targets), are more likely to be put off by flamewars and have generally less time for FLOSS development (as they spend more time on domestic tasks). In general, women get more involved in projects they get paid for (Wallach, 2010). Initiatives to involve more women are multiplying in FLOSS communities (e.g. the Debian Women Project, Gnome Women's summer outreach program) and increasingly successful. Yet important mismatches remain between the representation or image of technology related work and the actual practice of technology in terms of gender (Collet, 2006; Faulkner, 2009). For Faulkner (2009), this is partially due to highly gendered dichotomies operating: men are perceived to be more machine or technology focused while women are considered to be more people focused, in other words the binary division between feminine expressiveness and masculine instrumentalism; the distinction between hard technology and soft technology discussed previously and the ways of thoughts considered to be more abstract for men and more concret and relational for women.

3 Technopolitics

At present, FLOSS and hacker imaginaries have spread from programmers to nonprogrammers who sympathize with their core ethics (Rasmussen, 2007). Various activist movements found inspiration in values of sharing and openness and applied these to other political domains such as human rights, environmentalism and social justice. Lessig's Creative Commons licenses or Wikipedia's GNU Free Documentation License are extensions of the alternative distributive copyright rules developed for free software with Stallmans General Public License (Jordan, 2008) or the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license. A much broader digital rights movement is taking shape across the globe. It draws and extends upon

the original hacker ethic as laid out by Levy (1984), merges with other civil society movements (e.g. human rights) and proposes an original mix of open source, enlightenment and libertarian frames. Digital rights activism finds its origin in IT and, FLOSS communities in particular. Few women are active within activists groups as has shown our analysis of two digital rights campaigns at the European level, researched in previous studies (Breindl, 2009; Breindl & Briatte, 2009). Although we do not claim an exhaustive representation of gender issues within these groups, 44 in-depth interviews were carried out with activists and political representatives involved in both campaigns. 12 interviews discussed gender issues in technopolitical activist groups in more detail and the following, exploratory analysis is based on the perceptions of 12 activists from 6 different countries and 7 different associations or political groups. Three of them are women. The following is a first exploratory analysis of how activists perceive and represent gender within technopolitical activist groups. All interviewees agree that women constitute the exception in technopolitical activist groups. Yet, many pointed out that it was not just a question of gender but of general diversity, most activists being young males, aged 25-35, living in urban areas, from caucasian origin and, holding a university degree. Frequently, they had previous experience with computer science, many having studied it and are active, users or supporters, of free and open source software. The first explanation to the lack of women put forward was that digital rights activism dealt with technical issues. One 49 year-old activist argued: It's natural I mean technological subjects don't really interest women in the same way. I mean some women like it but it's less, it's less a women thing. Without being sexist, women have other, usually have other interests I think. (Interview 6, Brussels, December 18, 2008). Others argue for differences of involvement in leisure activities due to the fact that women are still more occupied with household tasks compared to men. Discriminations in education are also pointed out and the most straightforward perception is that it is a societal issue, more than a characteristic of technopolitical activism. Some activists are however old enough to remember that in the 1960s, many programmers were women: But you see remember back then it was something that people did as a job choice and that's all. Whereas what happened after that is that a lot of men who liked tinkering with something got into computers and that's something men do a lot more than women. Before that happened, I think it was more common for women do get into programming. (Interview 15, per phone, September 15, 2009). Yet, having so few women is not an issue as the movement needs to gather support, regardless of the gender they turn out to be. (Ibid.). Most male activists state that they are rather open towards feminism and welcome more women to join the fight. Most supporters of technopolitical movements are recruited among programmers and technophiles, many of whom consider themselves as geeks.

The three women we encountered, because we asked to meet women, all occupied key positions within the movement, one as an reliable ally inside an important political institution, the two others acting as spokespersons and central campaigners for a French and a Spanish group. None of them came from an engineering background. Asked about their position as a women in a men's world, one of them considered: It never disturbed me. In politics, it's a men's world, which is still more ferocious than the FLOSS milieu. (...) When you look at political activists, well there are lots of women (...) they get less chances. Already they don't necessarily want to get involved but when they want to get involved, they get less chances to do so, in a successful manner, with the aim of a success, an election... (...). In Free Software, it's not the same problematic, in the sense that it's a meritocratie and in the communities I know, there is no discrimination against women. Simply women who have some responsibilities, who hold key responsibilities in free software projects, they don't like to show themselves. Because they are geeks. And a geek doesn't like to show himself. (Interview 27, Paris 11, 2009). The geek mentality is indeed rather common among technopolitical activist groups, manifest in the way they talk, dress and carry a laptop around wherever they go. They recognize others who behave in similar ways and speak a similar language as equals. Some groups were characterised by a particular vocabulary, often using programming language to make sense of complex political processes. Participation in such groups is said to be open, anybody can join. It's a meritocratie, a person being judged upon his input and expertise. In Sweden, more women were present in the activist groups we met. In Scandinavian countries, and particularly in Sweden, Internet politics issues have gained widespread visibility and have become a societal issue of importance. As a result, the technical connotation of such topics has lost its salience and supporters have moved away from IT communities and englobe a larger membership of journalists, experts, concerned citizens not necessarily holding any previous IT knowledge. Within technopolical activism, it often depends on the issues at stake as well, with the tendency that technical issues are largely male dominated. Most interviewees recognise differences of behaviour between men and women, men being more clumsy and really incompetent when it comes to understanding, you know why people have difficulties for example. So any kind of empathy for the other person. argues one activist (Interview 6, Brussels, December 18, 2008). Women thus frequently act as mediators, negotiators, helping out to manage communities. Some also consider it as surprising that there are so few women, yet believe that men and women should be complementing each other: So that's kind of, you would expect in a large digital society, that you had a good symbiosis between people doing different kinds of work and different kind of roles and also male and female, I'm now using codes because male and female is very much a mental thing, but ways of communicating, ways of organizing should work together very well. You don't see that a lot but I expect to see it more over time. It doesn't make sense that all the girls go and chat on Facebook and all the guys go on, you know, argue on IRC, it doesn't really make sense. (Interview 6, Brussels, December 18, 2008)

The case of France shows that women involved in technopolitical activism tend to occupy shadow positions or be involved in public relations, as spokespersons for example, not necessarily holding technical expertise but good knowledge of the political field, a precious asset for the rest of the network. Furthermore, internet-based activism allows for a large part of anonymity, depending on the groups. In Sweden, many activists only know each other by nicknames and activism appears more diverse in general. One spanish activist we interviewed talked in length about her positions within one maledominated, machist, activist group whereas a digital rights group she founded is mainly composed of women. She argues that: there are no women because they don't deserve to be there. Because, I want to say that it's a struggle and guys, they also have lots of problems (Interview 34, Brussels February 3, 2009). She also recognises that there is a general lack of recognising female achievement but that many women are voluntarily remaining in retreat, not stepping forward for what they achieved and often not finishing off what they started. There are certainly contextual differences between countries like Sweden in which gender issues are differently perceived than in Spain or Italy.

Conclusion Collet observes that female computer scientists hold a median position between masculine and feminine (2006: 278). Women who make it are often described as exceptional, in the sense that they are women who can do more than other women. Yet, to be an exceptional girl, you need to be a girl AND not behave like a girl (2006: 279). In IT sectors, women seem to distance themselves from other/normal women, who are discriminated by their male counterparts, in order to make sure to get accepted within the group. Exceptional women build themselves against the feminine, without adopting the masculine (ibid.). Within technopolitical activism, the few women involved rarely come from a technological background. They are exceptional womenin the sense that they feel at ease within a dominantly male community and hold the political expertise to significantly contribute to it. All of the women encountered are very conscious of their particular situation and actively trying to involve more women in the groups. Despite technopolitical activists' egalitarian philosophy, gender is an issue for these communities. However, further research should question the binary presentation of gender. It might lead to further insights to consider the perception of masculinity by technopolitical activists. In which way do male computer programmers or technopolitical activists deal with representations of masculinity and feminity, and can these be placed on a dichotomy or are there more nuances to be explored? In the end, technopolitical activism is distinctive in its relation to power. Technologies generally extend one's limited sense of strength or potency. Carrying out technology-aided activism aims at influencing the power shaping of future societies, in the sense that regulations are setting the structural changes for the future. For such activism, it is necessary to convince men and women alike of the well-foundation of their actions, which means that in the long

term, we predict a growing participation of women, which may have positive sideconsequences on the perception of technology by society, with regards to gender.

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