Connecting Women: Women, Gender and ICT in Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century (History of Computing)

This important volume examines European perspectives on the historical relations that women have maintained with information and communication technologies (ICTs), since the telegraph. Features: describes how gendered networks have formed around ICT since the late 19th Century; reviews the gendered issues revealed by the conflict between the actress Ms Sylviac and the French telephone administration in 1904, or by ‘feminine’ blogs; examines how gender representations, age categories, and uses of ICT interact and are mutually formed in children’s magazines; illuminates the participation of women in the early days of computing, through a case study on the Rothamsted Statistics Department; presents a comparative study of women in computing in France, Finland and the UK, revealing similar gender divisions within the ICT professions of these countries; discusses diversity interventions and the part that history could (and should) play to ensure women do not take second place in specific occupational sectors. Foreword 6 Preface 10 References 12 Acknowledgment 14 Contents 16 Chapter 1: Connecting Gender, Women and ICT in Europe: A Long-Term Perspective 18 1.1 From the Telegraph to Phone Lines to Online Networks: Women Connecting Through Heterogeneity 21 1.1.1 Framing ICT 21 1.1.2 Entwining Temporalities 26 1.1.3 Mapping Europe 27 1.1.4 Crossing Issues 29 1.1.5 Diversifying Approaches, Sources and Scales 31 1.2 ConneXXions 31 1.2.1 ‘The Invisible Women’ 32 1.2.2 The Question of Collectives and Empowerment 33 1.2.3 The ‘Hidden History’ of Women in Technology and the ‘Hidden History’ of Technology Through Women 34 1.2.4 The Role of Professionalisation and Occupational Identities 36 1.2.5 Gender/Technologies Co-construction and Intersectionality 37 References 38 Part I: Networks and Empowerment. Introductory Remarks 41 Chapter 2: Telegraphy and the “New Woman” in Late-Nineteenth-­Century Europe 43 2.1 From the Telegrapher’s Muse to Female Telegraphic “Bow Wow” 46 2.2 Telegraphic History at the Intersection of Gender and Class: The Female Clerk 52 2.3 Telegraphic History at the Intersectionality of Gender and Class: The Woman Investor 55 2.4 Conclusion 58 References 60 Chapter 3: Airing the Differences: An Approach to the Role of Women in the Spanish Free Radio Movement (1976–2014) 63 3.1 An Introduction to the Spanish Free Radio Movement 64 3.2 Women and Free Radio 67 3.3 Becoming Women’s Voice? 73 3.4 Conclusion 74 References 75 Sources 75 Chapter 4: From Marie-Claire Magazine’s Authoritative Pedagogy to the Hellocoton Blog Platform’s Knowledge Sharing: Between Gender Construction and Gender Appropriation 77 4.1 Conceptions of Femininity 78 4.2 Towards More Symmetrical Communication and Exchanges 80 4.2.1 Marie-Claire: Vertical Transmission 80 4.2.2 Transmitting by Sharing 84 4.3 Conclusion 87 References 88 Sources 88 Part II: Gendered Representations. Introductory Remarks 90 Chapter 5: The Sylviac Affair (1904–1910) or Joan of Arc Versus the Demoiselles du Téléphone 91 5.1 A Political and Media Dramatisation Transforms Ms. Sylviac into a ‘Joan of Arc’ Against the Telephone Administration 92 5.2 Sylviac’s Fate, from the Perspective of her Gender and the Working Conditions of the Demoiselles du Téléphone 94 5.3 Behind the Affair: The Establishment of New Relations Between Users and the Administration 97 5.4 Conclusion 99 References 100 Archives and Printed Sources 100 Chapter 6: The Representational Intertwinement of Gender, Age and Uses of Information and Communication Technology: A Comparison Between German and French Preteen Magazines 102 6.1 Preadolescence, a Nebulous but Gendered and Technologised Age 104 6.2 Stronger Diversity in France, Counter-Representations in Germany 106 6.3 Gendered Representations of ICT Use 109 6.4 Conclusion 111 References 112 Part III: ICT and Professionalization. Introductory Remarks 114 Chapter 7: From Computing Girls to Data Processors: Women Assistants in the Rothamsted Statistics Department 116 7.1 Technicians in Science 118 7.2 Female Labour in Computing 120 7.3 Women Assistants in the Rothamsted Statistics Department 121 7.4 A Job for Women 125 7.5 From Human Computers to Data Processors 126 7.6 Conclusion: On the Invisibility of the Women Assistants at Rothamsted 128 References 129 Chapter 8: The Gendering of the Computing Field in Finland, France and the United Kingdom Between 1960 and 1990 131 8.1 The Role of Women in the Institutionalisation of Computing in Finland 132 8.1.1 The Participants in the Development of IT in Finland 132 8.1.2 The Place of Women in IT Professions in Finland 134 8.1.3 The Case of Finland: Concluding Remarks 134 8.2 The Role of Women in the Development of Computing in France 135 8.2.1 The Major Players in the Development of Computing in France 136 8.2.2 The Women Involved in the Growth of IT in France 137 8.2.3 The Case of France: Concluding Remarks 138 8.3 Women and IT in the Public Sector in the United Kingdom 139 8.3.1 Female Computer Scientists in the Civil Service and the Nationalised Industries 140 8.3.2 Two Pioneering Women in the Software and IT Service Industry 141 8.3.3 The Case of the United Kingdom: Concluding Remarks 143 8.4 Differences and Common Traits 143 References 145 Chapter 9: Breaking the “Glass Slipper”: What Diversity Interventions Can Learn from the Historical Evolution of Occupational Identity in ICT and Commercial Aviation 148 9.1 Occupational Identity and Diversification: An Introduction to the “Glass Slipper” 150 9.2 Privilege by Dis/Association? The Evolution of the Figurative Commercial Airline Pilot 154 9.3 Privilege by Dis/Association? The Evolution of the Figurative ICT “Professional” 157 9.4 Conclusion 161 References 165 Chapter 10: Gender-Technology Relations in the Various Ages of Information Societies 167 10.1 What ICTs, What History? 167 10.2 Technology Yesterday, ICTs Today? 169 10.3 Gender Infrastructures of the Information Age 171 10.4 ICT as Technology and as Culture 174 References 177 Index 180 This important volume examines European perspectives on the historical relations that women have maintained with information and communication technologies (ICTs), since the telegraph. Presenting a dialogue which encompasses a diverse selection of transnational and interdisciplinary studies, the text investigates forms of female empowerment, gendered representations and women's professionalization, in different spheres of ICT. Topics and features: Describes how gendered networks have formed around ICT since the late 19th Century, focusing on the media of the telegraph, the press and the radio Reviews the gendered issues revealed by the conflict between the actress Ms. Sylviac and the French telephone administration in 1904, or by 'feminine' blogs Examines how gender representations, age categories, and uses of ICT interact and are mutually formed in children's magazines Illuminates the participation of women in the early days of computing, through a case study on the Rothamsted Statistics Department Presents a comparative study of women in computing in France, Finland and the UK, revealing similar gender divisions within the ICT professions of the three countries Discusses diversity interventions and the part that history could (and should) play to ensure women do not take second place in specific occupational sectors Providing a broad analysis on the interconnections between innovation, technology, and women's history, this collection will be of great interest to all researchers at the intersection of gender studies, media history and the history of computing. Dr. Valérie Schafer is a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS, Institute for Communication Sciences), Paris, France. Dr. Benjamin G. Thierry is an assistant professor at Paris-Sorbonne University Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Connecting Gender, Women and ICT in Europe: A Long-Term Perspective....Pages 1-23 Front Matter....Pages 25-26 Telegraphy and the “New Woman” in Late-Nineteenth-Century Europe....Pages 27-46 Airing the Differences: An Approach to the Role of Women in the Spanish Free Radio Movement (1976–2014)....Pages 47-60 From Marie-Claire Magazine’s Authoritative Pedagogy to the Hellocoton Blog Platform’s Knowledge Sharing: Between Gender Construction and Gender Appropriation....Pages 61-73 Front Matter....Pages 75-75 The Sylviac Affair (1904–1910) or Joan of Arc Versus the Demoiselles du Téléphone ....Pages 77-87 The Representational Intertwinement of Gender, Age and Uses of Information and Communication Technology: A Comparison Between German and French Preteen Magazines....Pages 89-100 Front Matter....Pages 101-102 From Computing Girls to Data Processors: Women Assistants in the Rothamsted Statistics Department....Pages 103-117 The Gendering of the Computing Field in Finland, France and the United Kingdom Between 1960 and 1990....Pages 119-135 Breaking the “Glass Slipper”: What Diversity Interventions Can Learn from the Historical Evolution of Occupational Identity in ICT and Commercial Aviation....Pages 137-155 Gender-Technology Relations in the Various Ages of Information Societies....Pages 157-169 Back Matter....Pages 171-174