Making and Keeping the Promises Our Tools Make: Viewing E-Textiles Through the Lens of Ambient Belonging

• In Event: 34.079 - Interactive Stitch Sampler of Equitable Learning and Teaching With E-Textiles in K–12 Education

Abstract

Computer science (CS) is a field that is rife with stereotypes. There are stereotypes about computer scientists, about the objects found in CS environments, and about the activities that take place in those spaces. Computer scientists are seen as technology oriented, lacking interpersonal skills, and masculine (Cheryan et al., 2013; Semmens et al., 2015; Nosek et al., 2009). The activities that computer scientists take part in are seen as isolated and non-collaborative (Master, Cheryan, & Meltzoff, 2016), and the types of objects that are believed to be common in CS environments include Star Trek posters and computer magazines (Cheryan et al., 2009). These stereotypes are pervasive, subscribed to by people of all genders, and range from middle school to adulthood.
Recent work has demonstrated how deactivating computer-science stereotypes may be an effective way of closing the gender gap in computing. Removing stereotypical objects in a CS classroom and replacing them with non-stereotypical objects raises women’s interest in taking an introductory CS course to a level that equals that of men (Cheryan et al., 2009; Cheryan, Master, & Meltzoff, 2015). Stereotypical objects are theorized to broadcast ambient identity cues that embody and communicate group-member stereotypes.
Our work investigates the potential for electronic textiles to disrupt prevailing stereotypes in computer science. We present two studies on this topic. The first study builds on the work of Cheryan et al. to explore the effects of electronic textiles to deactivate stereotypes about computing and increase interest. This study is currently underway, and the results will be reported for the first time during this session.
The second study took place during a week-long workshop in an all-girls middle school, and used an experimental design to examine the impact that working with e-textiles had on girls’ stereotypes about computing and arts. N=49 girls were split into three groups. The first group (N=10) participated in a workshop called Electric Fashion and created projects of their own design using an e-textiles kit. The second group (N=10) participated in a workshop called Light Up Your Life. The girls in this workshop worked with the Arduino Leonardo: a kit that is functionally identical to the Adafruit Flora, but uses solder, wire, and breadboards instead of needle, thread, and fabric. The third (N=29) was the control group. When compared to control, we found that participation in both workshops led to significant reductions in harmful stereotypes and increases in identification with computing. We hypothesize that the structure of the workshop (e.g., working on personally meaningful projects in groups) had a stronger effect on reducing harmful stereotypes than the tools themselves.
Cheryan et al. have shown that objects in an environment make promises about who will be present in a space and what sorts of activities will take place there. The results from our second study provide evidence that there is also value in keeping the promises that objects make. When this occurs—as was the case in our second study—harmful stereotypes are not just deactivated, but can be changed.

Authors

• Richard Davis, Stanford University

• Christopher Proctor, Stanford University

• Michelle Friend, University of Nebraska - Omaha

• Paulo Blikstein, Stanford University