Gender Issues in Online Communications By Hoai-An Truong with additional writing and editing by Gail Williams, Judi Clark and Anna Couey in conjunction with Members of BAWIT -- Bay Area Women in Telecommunications Copyright 1993  Written for CFP 93   Version 4.1 BAWIT ['bay-wit'], Bay Area Women in Telecommunications, is a group of women working with telecom, organized to discuss women's professional and social issues and computer networking, including industry gender bias. By doing so, BAWIT seeks to advance the state of women who use telecom, to provide a higher profile for women in the industry, and to encourage women and girls in their exploration of computers in general, and in particular, telecom. Signed by: Judi Clark, Anna Couey, Lile Elam, Barbara Enzer, Hilarie Gardner, M Normal, Naomi Pierce, Nancy Rhine, Rita Rouvalis, Leslie Regan Shade, Jillaine Smith, Hoai-An Truong, Sue vanHattum, Gail Williams, Donna Zelzer. The principal author would like to acknowledge members of BAWIT, and Mills College for education on the issues discussed in this paper, and also Judi Clark, who proposed the panel on gender issues and was instrumental in getting the paper off the ground and throughout the process. Contact information for Bay Area Women in Telecom e-mail: bawit-request@igc.apc.org Introduction Despite the fact that computer networking systems obscure physical characteristics, many women find that gender follows them into the online community, and sets a tone for their public and private interactions there -- to such an extent that some women purposefully choose gender neutral identities, or refrain from expressing their opinions. The experiences of women online are both personal and political. To a certain extent, their causes are rooted in the physical world -- economics and social conditioning contribute to the limited numbers of women online. Additionally, online environments are largely determined by the viewpoints of their users and programmers, still predominantly white men. If network policies and legislation are going to determine access to information and participation in public media for this and the next generations, it is critical that they reflect and address the perspectives of women and people of color, to avoid further marginalization of these constituencies.  The following is an overview of issues which members of BAWIT feel need to be addressed. We feel that these are situations worthy of further investigation and research. Access The Clinton administration has placed a priority on developing a National Information Infrastructure, envisioning that computer networks will be the information highways of the future. However, on many systems, women comprise between 10 and 15 percent of the online population. On electronic bulletin boards or BBSs, which are rarely as supervised or monitored as the more well-known online services -- such as Compuserve, America_nline and Prodigy -- their numbers tend to be far lower. Why? And what are the implications of inequities in gender representation in the information infrastructure? It is likely that economics impact women's online participation to a large degree. On average, women's salaries are 40% lower than men's, leaving women with less disposable income for computers, modems, software, online services and any additional phone charges.While electronic mail [or e-mail] is fast becoming common in the workplace, it is still predominantly used by those in technical fields, whether in educational institutions or in business; or by those with technical facility or training. Men who use the Internet have a higher likelihood of being in an academic, management, or technical position offering free access as one of the prerequisites of their jobs. Thus, a higher percentage of men have both the technical training and subsidized access to participate online than women do. Additional deterrents to online participation may be attributed to women's roles in society. While more women are in the workplace, they often are still primary caretakers for their children, and in a majority of households, women bear the brunt of household chores. Women may find they have less free time to learn to navigate online systems. Women in Computer Studies Another deterrent to women's entering the computer field or making themselves at home on the net is the negative stereotype of the socially isolated computer nerd. Women may need help overcoming visions of becoming or associating with technology-obsessed nerds and adolescents who are seen as likely to populate online systems. This has had research attention as a significant reason why females students tend to drop out of computer studies. Professors tend to call upon and address their remarks to male students more often than female students, as several studies show. Additionally, there are few opportunities for women to be mentored in higher education or in their careers. Executives or professors -- often male -- are likely to identify with, encourage and mentor another male, rather than a female. By itself, lack of attention or mentors may not be a deterrent; however, coupled with other social factors and discrimination, it often contributes to feelings of discouragement and isolation, low confidence and feelings of unworthiness, and higher dropout rates. Despite the fact that women often use computers in business settings, technical roles -- from programming of telecom software to operating communications systems -- remain predominantly male. Invitations to sysop gatherings addressed "Dear Sir" and including "your wife is welcome," customers who ask for a manager when they hear a female voice on a technical help call, and the popular culture archetypes of computer enthusiasts as male, are continual reminders of common assumptions based on gender. Even when female students do as well or better than their male peers, they tend to feel less competent. In technical fields, the common assumption by both men and by women themselves is that women don't do as well as men. Women are then less likely to take on projects which may either prove their ability or provide additional expertise, because they don't feel qualified. Interface Access to online communications is not simply a function of economics.  The technical expertise required to establish access to online systems, and the interfaces users encounter when they get there can be significant deterrents to online participation for non-technical users. While graphical user interfaces can significantly ameliorate this problem, they are system specific, a situation which can hamper access for small or $community organizations and lower income individuals who can only afford older and non-standard equipment, if at all. Studies have attempted to explain the reasons that fewer girls than boys pursue technical fields. Some studies indicate that gender impacts perception. Network interfaces are typically designed by men; if the studies are correct, it would appear that developing interfaces that rely on women's perceptive skills in addition to men's would impact online participation. Interestingly enough, Les Radke, who teaches a computer class at Richmond High, finds that in his class boys gravitate towards computer games, while girls use e-mail and read USENET. Perceived Usefulness An even greater deterrent for non-technical users is the perception of usefulness. As BAWIT member Donna Zelzer explains: "...Look at the automobile. It's expensive, it's mechanical... And, if you make a mistake, you can KILL someone. And of course men make fun of women drivers all the time. Yet despite these obstacles, millions of women own cars and drive them every day. Why? Because they see cars as useful and even necessary to their lifestyles. But most women don't feel this way about computers or going online." Network systems and projects geared to serving non-technical users find that education is a tremendous part of their work, and that concrete benefits must be demonstrated to overcome a new user's investment of time and money to learn to telecommunicate. And what are the benefits? Network users often describe virtual community as a benefit of being online; professionals and activists find they can gather, access, and disseminate information and viewpoints not readily available from mass media. Yet while the networks can democratize publishing, they also impose additional cost on information. Herbert Schiller's "Culture, Inc.," among information and space. As the nets become increasingly commercialized, they further establish class differentiation between those who can afford the luxury of participating in online systems and those who cannot. Social Interaction and Gender-Based Perceptions A newly created bulletin board in the Bay Area started up a conference with a posting comparing women to pets that occasionally need to be put to sleep. This type of demeaning communication involving women is quite typical of bulletin boards, which may provide an outlet for males to share humor they would suppress in a mixed setting. This can be a disincentive to participate, especially if this is an initial or persistent online experience. People will say things online that they will not say face to face. In addition, missing elements of conversation, such as facial expression, vocal clues, and other conventions have a complex effect on online interactions. Additionally there are unresolved difficulties in the frank discussion and expression of sexuality between men and women, in which intent is often misunderstood. An element of this technology is a tradition of sometimes colorful diatribes or "flaming". Since women tend to use language differently then men do, these highly aggressive language patterns may be even more of a barrier to our participation. Styles of communication (sometimes referred to as "debate" and "relate" styles) often complicate messages. While debating and arguing an issue is the normal style for some people, others understand these debates as an attack on them, causing them to pull away from the discussion. Being sensitive to the style of communication can be as important as the actual message being conveyed. Deborah Tannen, among other authors and researchers, describes the difference in language use between the genders and between different families and cultures. Tannen identifies a less direct, more inclusive style, designed to avoid arguments and confrontation, as a more typically female method of communication. Online Harassment Many women who use Internet sites, electronic bulletin boards or other online services, or even internal company-wide networks report receiving invitations and messages of a sexually explicit nature in real-time "chats" or via e-mail. These messages are variously analogous to obscene phone calls or whistles in the street depending on their tone. However, they take on an added annoyance factor for women who are paying to utilize the resources of the online environment. Additionally, these messages may be experienced repeatedly by the same women because there tend to be fewer women on most systems. Women looking for information online are often surprised to see that a female first name can bring a distracting and ultimately expensive volume of unsolicited contact, and give one the sensation of being the first female to have arrived at a frontier since pay dirt was struck. The problem is pervasive and annoying enough that many women choose to switch to non-gender-specific login names, for example, or to post to women-only conferences or mailing lists. A major obstacle that women have to deal with is that sexual harassment is a relatively new concept in our society, and that ignoring the situation can be a successful survival strategy in the short run. Women may refrain from reporting perceptions of abuse because of internalized peer pressure, based on observations of other women being labeled "prudes" or otherwise mocked. Or they may hold back due to the fear, or anecdotal evidence that charges are not likely to be taken seriously by management. Women may not know that harassment is by its very nature subjective, and that they may be entitled to more privacy than they get. "All of the cases I have seen filed involving e-mail or voice mail were settled out of court, which says something about the strength of the evidence," said Frieda Klein, a sexual harassment consultant, in an article in MacWeek dated Dec. 14, 1992. Guidelines for Monitoring Online Harassment How can we prevent online harassment? The best way to bring this about is education on the issues and recognizing when harassment occurs. A MUSE role-playing community, Cyberion City at MIT, tries to educate its participants with this definition of the problem: "Unwanted advances of hostile or forward nature are unacceptable... If you think someone might be interested in developing a closer personal relationship, it is your responsibility to make absolutely