- By Shweta Sharma, The Sunday Guardian on 29/05/2011
It has become the norm to shrug and lament: where are the women in technology? But Gayatri Buragohain, founder of Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT), has moved beyond introspection. She prefers action.
Delhi-based Feminist Approach to Technology is a pioneering non-profit organisation committed to empowering women through technology. They believe that women can move at par with men in creating and using technology. "It is a gendered critique of the design, use and impact of technology, as well as empowers women to participate in its future. Equal participation of women in producing and decision-making regarding technology is important to ensure that widely used technologies do not affect women adversely," Buragohain insists.
Apart from encouraging women to take up technical professions, FAT is currently running six programmes namely: We, Women in Technology Initiative (WeWIT), Tech Centre Project, School Intervention Program, Research and Dissemination and Workshops for Women by Women.
"It has been found that most women in the IT sector drop out after four-five years and opt for other professions. WeWIT is an attempt to bring together women who work in technical fields and help them find role models by highlighting the stories of women leaders in technology. It is important for women working in a 'male field' to seek inspiration and mentorship. Also, there is not much data on women in technical fields, and the ones that are available are specific to the field of IT. We want to research and find out about the challenges women face, especially those who are innovators in this field," she told Guardian20.
While pursuing her engineering, she used to often wonder why, in certain fields, like technology, women are found in such miniscule numbers. She recalls a particular teacher who'd question the female students why they have taken admission in engineering as they would get married soon. He argued that their seats could have been easily filled by boys who would then go on to support their family. Angered by such criticism and inequalities, she decided to work for women in technology.
Though the organisation's name specifies 'technology', it encompasses a wide playing ground, including, electrical wiring, biotechnology, documentation by videos, etc. They also take girls on field trips to show them the 'real' world. "All our workshops are aimed at bridging the gap and envisioning a world where technology is gender mutual," she says.
