Gender-Inclusive Software

Speaker:  Margaret Burnett – Corvallis, OR, United States
Topic(s):  Human Computer Interaction

Abstract

Gender inclusiveness in software companies is receiving a lot of attention these days, but it overlooks a potentially critical factor: software itself. Research into how individual differences cluster by gender shows that men and women often work differently with software when they are problem-solving (e.g., when programming, debugging, using spreadsheets, doing game-based learning, visualizing information, etc.) In this talk, I'll present a method we call GenderMag. ÿAt the core of the method are 5 cognitive facets with gender differences, drawn from a large body of foundational work on gender differences from computer science, psychology, education, communications, and women's studies. Results from field studies have been that software practitioners identified a surprisingly high number of gender-inclusiveness issues in their own software. We present these results, a quick peek at emerging GenderMag work in Open Source settings and in academia, and ways to get involved. ÿ

About this Lecture

Number of Slides:  35-50
Duration:  45-75 minutes
Languages Available:  English
Last Updated: 

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