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Using Technology to Visualize Gender Bias

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12936))

Abstract

Science and technology have been typically associated with masculinity. Research contradicting this belief has been mainly focused on our unconscious awareness. In this paper, we propose two interactive systems designed to make gender bias noticeable. One that combines physical and virtual environment and present the numbers of college applications (Gender by Numbers, that interacts with our conscious mind) and one that uses QR codes to visualize a gender bias riddle (Riddle Me This QR, that interacts with our unconscious mind). We conducted a study that aimed to infer which of the strategies could trigger a difference using the conscious and unconscious measures. We found that Gender by Numbers only reinforced the mentality that men should pursue engineering and women should go into a more characteristic job like kindergarten teacher or nursing. Riddle Me This QR uncover the possibility of mentality change. The next step is up to each individual to have the will to break that prejudice.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by ARDITI (Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação), Doctoral Grant under the Project M14-20 - 09-5369-FSE-000001.

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Tranquada, S., Correia, N., Baras, K. (2021). Using Technology to Visualize Gender Bias. In: Ardito, C., et al. Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021. INTERACT 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12936. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85607-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85607-6_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85606-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85607-6

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