WHAT WE DO

Technology is the application of science for the benefit of human beings. This includes the tools we use for communication (mobile phones, the internet and radio), the technology that produces electricity, various forms of transportation, as well as the machines used to monitor health. Technology has been integral to human society, from the discovery of fire in the Stone Age to the manipulation of metal in the Bronze or Iron Age.  Yet, as in other many fields, over the centuries, men and their inventions have dominated the scientific and technological discourse, while the contributions of women in science and technology have not been much recognised. In spite of well-known examples before us like Kalpana Chawla and Marie Curie, the idea of women and girls “doing“ science is still somewhat alien. One does recall the first “man on the moon”, but does anyone know that the first computer programmer was a woman? It is important that women take their rightful place in these fields too, as they have in many others. In personal, social or professional spaces, women need to engage equally in technology, take initiative for their own learning and be comfortable in understanding and experimenting with it.

A feminist approach to technology is an outlook that questions the existing structures of technology and seeks to incorporate women as equal partners within it. It critiques the design, use and impact of technology. Equal participation of women in technology and decision-making around it helps ensure that widely used technologies do not affect women adversely.

We at FAT make an attempt to question this pre-conceived notion about the inability of women to participate in Science and Technology fields, and further incorporate women as equal partners to it. At FAT we have identified 6 themes that we work on to achieve our goal:

1. Awareness Building on the Issue of Women and Technology
2. Promoting Women in Technical Professions
3. Gender Advocacy in Technology Education
4. Skill Building of Women in Technical Skills 
5. Capacity Building of Women's Organization
6. Policy Advocacy to Bridge the Gender Gap in Techology