The Gender Equality Checkpoint

[DanaC]

Sometimes, organisations really try to do something positive but trip themselves up by not truly understanding the nature of the problem. IBM has been trying to encourage greater female participation in STEM fields. They came up with this gem of a campaign. It's laudable that they are trying, but they clearly are missing huge chunks of the point. I read the article and I was just trying to imagine the strategy meetings for this campaign. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for some of this stuff.

IBM has discontinued a campaign encouraging women to get into technology by asking them to “hack a hairdryer” after widespread criticism from women in the industry.

The company admitted the campaign “missed the mark for some” and apologised.

The campaign, which dated back to October and was part of a wider effort by the company to promote STEM careers, called on women in science and technology to “reengineer what matters in science”.

A video posted on IBM’s YouTube account showed a number of experiments involving hairdryers as a voiceover encourages women to take part:



You, a windblaster and an idea, repurposed for a larger purpose, to support those who believe that it’s not what covers your cranium that counts, but what’s in it. So hack heat, re-reoute airflow, reinvent sound, and imagine a future where the most brilliant minds are solving the world’s biggest problems regardless of your gender.

Yep - because obviously, in order to make science and engineering attractive to women, it must first be translated into something they can relate to: haircare and beauty. On the same spectrum as the makers of science kits for kids who market kits to boys that have them creating model volcanoes and kits to girls that have them exploring the science of perfumes and bubblebath.


Women already in STEM fields were not impressed and took to Twitter. Some of the tweets are great.

@reubenacciano tweeted:

Hey @IBM - Margaret Hamilton was too busy writing code to get us to the moon to f*ck w/ a hairdryer. #HackAHairDryer

@Stephevs43 says:

That's ok @IBM, I'd rather build satellites instead, but good luck with that whole #HackAHairDryer thing.

These two made me laugh:

@minxdragon:

Sorry @IBM i’m too busy working on lipstick chemistry and writing down formulae with little hearts over the i s to #HackAHairDryer

@joalabastar posted a picture of a folded towel with this comment:

Here, @IBM. My lady brain came up with this for #HackAHairDryer. Kuhn would declare it paradigm shifting, surely

But my favourite came from the London Fire Brigade. It's nice to know they're keeping an eye on things:

We're staying out of the sexism debate, however we'd suggest that it's generally a bad idea, & possibly a bit dangerous to #HackAHairDryer

Read the rest here:

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...aimed-at-women

Good on IBM for trying. Good on them for their swift response. Please do better next time - it does matter. Stop focusing on changing the content to make it relatable for women and start making tech fields more welcoming of women in a way that doesn't make them feel like someone on an exchange trip from Venus.