The Women and Technology Initiatives For Women Award
| In the
fall of 1997 I set up an award through Initiatives For Women
at the University at Albany, the Kathleen A. Turek Women and
Technology award. The purpose of this award was to encourage
women who were pursuing study in computer science to also
investigate the field of women's studies. The award was not
as successful as I would have liked, and in 2002 I realized
it was time to build a new fund for women using computer technologies
in all subject areas. Hence, I began work on a generic "Women
and Technology" fund to support University women who are United
States citizens and pursuing studies or advancement in a computer
technology field. I sought the assistance of other women from
campus in forming this fund and was heartened by the response.
The list of donors has grown, and the first award from this
new fund was given in the summer 2002 celebration. We still
have a long way to go in encouraging women to engage seriously
in technological fields, but I hope this award will further
progress on this campus. | |
When I announced the original technology fund at the November 1997 Initiatives For Women awards dinner, I described a little of my own background and relationship with computers and why I chose to create this particular award. My educational background and experience have been in mathematics, education, computer science, and, most recently, information science. I completed my B.A summa cum laude in mathematics with a computer science minor in 1971, followed by a M.A. in mathematics in 1972, and a M.S. in Computer Science in 1980 (4.0 GPA). It has only been in recent years that I've done any formal study in women's studies. These studies have been most enlightening and have gone far in explaining many of my personal experiences in my early studies.
Women's studies offers a context for scientific study to assist women in understanding that feminist struggles for equality are not over, particularly in the sciences where often the resistance has become more subtle than the blatant discrimination that once existed. Through women's studies readings and inquiry, you can recognize the "micro-inequities" when they occur and validate and reassure yourself that you are not paranoid or crazy, nor being unreasonable by insisting that they be ended.
There is a huge research literature
stretching over 40 years illustrating how boys and girls, men and
women, are not treated equally in many, if not most, classrooms.
These inequities and societal expectations result in many women
at the university level who have avoided mathematics, the sciences,
and computers as much as possible. Those women who have become interested
in computing and begin studies in computer science rapidly change
disciplines and fall out of the "pipeline" so that the
number of women getting Ph.D.s in Computer Science tends to be only
one in ten.
The development of computers has been closely tied to military development. How sad that being able to target missiles from miles away has been of more importance than being able to locate tiny cancer tumors before they have spread. All the technological conveniences that I can think of that are now so handy in my home had their origins in military or commercial applications, not in consideration of my work schedule. As I mentioned at the awards dinner, I think having more women developers will result in different types of applications, and different types of thinking and approaches to problems, which in the long run will benefit women and men alike.
I look forward to the day, for example, not of having a robot that cleans my house, but of having a house that maintains itself and doesn't need cleaning by anyone (or thing). I think the way to do this is to keep women in the picture, and the way to do that is to make sure they understand what the big picture is and how they fit in.
I still think that it is important for women studying in technologyfields
to understand the technology environment, but I am also working
on creating a new learning environment here at UAlbany, one where
women are encouraged to embracethe use of technology in their careers.
I am pleased to be able to support this effort with my continued
gifts to the Women and Technology Fund through Initiatives for Women
at the University at Albany.
--Kathleen A. Turek (October, 2002)
