Conference Addresses Technology's Impact on Women, Work, and Society: Panelists Express Celebration and Caution

The role of women at the very inception of the computer revolution was celebrated during a conference dinner in which special honors were given to Jean E. Sammet '48, a key member of the team that designed the computer language COBOL (for decades the principal language used for large-scale data processing), and who became the first woman president of the Association for Computing Machinery, the oldest educational and scientific computing society. A preeminent pioneer in the computer world, Sammet paved the way for women who today share in the competitive IT leadership.

One of the highest-ranking women in the IT field today, conference speaker Anita Borg, founding director of the Institute for Women and Technology, discussed her efforts to combine developing technologies and the needs of women. Drawing on suggestions from "the genius of ordinary people"--such as water pipes that alert homeowners to freezes, and handheld family schedulers--Borg is changing the culture of technology research and development. For Susan Geller Ettenheim '77, making the online world itself more equitable to women is paramount. A librarian and Internet specialist at Cybergirl, Inc., Ettenheim spoke on her efforts to gather information about Web sites by, for, and about women.

The IT revolution's impact as a social equalizer was further underscored by Karin J. Spencer '72, associate dean and director of academic advisement at Hofstra University. "The Internet has had a profound effect on people with disabilities, especially those with hearing and sight loss," she said, citing an extensive list of computer-aided devices such as speech-recognition software, closed-circuit captions for the deaf, and alternate forms of text for the blind and dyslexic.

In response to a discussion on the "soulless" nature of technology, Deborah V. Woodcock '82, product manager at ACCPAC International, Inc., the world's third-largest software developer, discussed the emergence of Silicon Valley as the cradle of technology in the United States. In enumerating some of IT's core values, she also noted the importance of making room for creative innovations. As for creative output, Sara G. Gilbertson '87, director of project operations at V! Studios, showed the group a video animation of her 360-degree cyber views of yet-to-be-built cars, furniture, or architecture designed to help clients sell their ideas. And artist Ellen Kaplan Levy '64 remarked that computer technology offers visual artists opportunities to develop "interactive works" and Web sites that are easily accessible exhibition forums.

While panelists applauded IT's boundless potential as an agent of advancement in areas of creativity and in erasing boundaries of geography, gender, race, and physical condition, they emphasized as well the revolution's potential threats. "Without criticism and social movements, every prejudice will just migrate to the new technology," warned Valerie B. Barr '77, professor of computer science at Hofstra University, citing examples of persistent sexism now evident on the Web. Marcia C. Linn, professor of education and director of the Instructional Technology Program at the University of California, Berkeley, was more optimistic, saying that when IT is "designed for equity, women and men participate more evenly." Harvey Kushner, a professor at Long Island University and author of two books on terrorism, noted the reality of "cyber terrorism." The dangers are increased, he said, by corporations motivated only by profit, terrorist organizations breaking into small, hard-to-locate units linked by worldwide networks, and by information--on bomb building, for example--freely available on the Web.

A more personal price is paid by those who get caught in the net of cyber addiction, noted psychologist David N. Greenfield, author of Virtual Addiction. Coralee Whitcomb, professor of computer information systems at Bentley College and president of Programmers for Social Responsibility, expressed concern that "we're allowing IT practices to chip away at everything we consider American." Information, she said, is being collected under the guise of personalizing or improving online shopping without informing consumers that their data are being used. "We can't let the Internet evolve without a bill of rights," she said. But it's the "cybernetic Wal-Mart effect" that worries Richard Sclove, founder and research director of the Loka Institute. Just as large retailers can put mom-and-pop stores out of business, he explained, e-commerce gives consumers more choice, but puts local shops in competition with the entire world market. On the social front, Sclove fears that online communities, such as chat rooms and listserves, may become mandatory as the "real world is eviscerated by the virtual world."

In a new world where the real and virtual are fast becoming symbiotic, the mixture of fear, caution, bravery, and celebration expressed by conference panelists and attendees seemed appropriate. In conclusion, the old world emerged as a poignant source of wisdom when Robin Chemers Neustein '75, managing director at Goldman Sachs, quoted an ancient Arabic saying: " 'The dawn does not come twice to awaken a person.' We don't know necessarily where this will go or end, but we are wide awake."

 

photos by Paul Schnaittacher

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