Big Questions
Article by Anna Weisling June 29, 2017 Photo: Still image from LADY EFFULGENT “THE UPRISING” by Tabita Svane. One of the questions we are tasked with asking ourselves at Women in Music Tech (WiMT) is, “Will ______ bring more women into the field of music technology?” This is a simple question, but one which is worth thinking […]
An Interview with Stefania Serafin
Interview by Anna Xambó, Anna Weisling, and Takumi Ogata May 15, 2017 Photo (above): Stefania in her home town Venice. A few words about Stefania: Stefania Serafin is Professor in sound for multimodal environments at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, where she pioneered the media technology program Medialogy. Her research areas include sound modeling, multimodal interfaces, and […]
Research Suggests Students Are Biased Against Female Lecturers – The Economist
In a study conducted by the Journal of the European Economic Association, the researchers evaluated male and female teachers using the same content and teaching the same course. After four years of data collecting from 2009 to 2013, the study showed that students, male and female, ranked women teachers on average thirty-five points below their […]
Girls, Guitars and Sexism in the Music Industry – sky NEWS
This article discusses how the world of the electric guitar is also changing toward having more gender balance and less gender stereotypes. Examples include the music brand Fender who realized that 50% sales from last year were to women, Chantel McGregor who is one of top-guitar players in Britain, and the specialist music fanzine Ladyfuzz […]
The Google Engineer’s Memo Shows the Stereotypes that Keep Women Out of STEM – Vox
This article discusses the memo written by the Google engineer James Damore criticizing the company’s diversity programs. The article talks about open issues of why there are not more women in technology, including stereotypes and biases. Read more here
Music Critic: Mirga ‘Needs to Find Her Inner Man’ – Slipped Disc
This article describes the controversial comments of a Telegraph’s music critic reflecting on Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s opening year as music director in Birmingham saying that she ‘needs to find her inner man’. Read more
How Women Mentors Make a Difference in Engineering – The Atlantic
This article presents research on the importance of women mentors for female engineering undergraduates. Preserving belonging and confidence appear to be critical aspects for a successful engineering career. Read more here
Ayah Bdeir Explains Why 8 is a Critical Age for Girls – littleBits
In this video, Ayah Bdeir, founder and CEO of littleBits, explains why girls by the age of 8 lose interest in STEM. She also describes that littleBits is successful attracting both girls and boys because it is a gender-neutral product. Watch the video here
Princeton Researchers Discover Why AI Become Racist and Sexist – Ars Tecnnica UK
This article explains the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm Word-Embedding Association Test (WEAT), which looks into bias in English language. The algorithm is based on the Implicit Association Test (IAT), used to measure implicit bias. The results of the algorithm are promising as an indicator of biases in human language. Read more here
We Need More Women Composers – And It’s Not About Tokenism, It’s About Talent – TheGuardian.com
This article describes the existing problem of lack of women composers and the actions that the UK-based organization Sound and Music is planning to take by 2020 in order to make sure that 50% of their collaborators are women and making more visible their work. Read more here