"I don't understand computer programming, because I'm a woman!" Negotiating gendered positions in a Norwegian discourse of computing

Abstract

In this article I will discuss how young men and women in Norway perceive the existence of gendered expectations in relation to computers. The male and female students of computing that I have studied, share an understanding of gender and computing – a hegemonic discourse – which creates different expectations to men and women's relations to computers. Men are expected to have more interest, experience and knowledge about computers than women. The discourse affects how men and women understand and present themselves as computer users. But individuals are also free to negotiate the discourse, and some describe themselves as being in ‘harmony’ with the expectations to men and women, while others do not. Whether in harmony or not with the gendered expectations, they are all negotiating the gendered meanings of computers in a Norwegian context.