The Second Nordic Challenges Conference: Narratives of uniformity and diversity (#CENS2018)
Carol Azungi Dralega and me had our #Nordwit abstract for CENS2018 accepted:
Women’s career trajectory in technology-driven R&I in rural communities
Come and listen to us at the conference in Helsinki 7-9 March 2018
Abstract below
Women’s career trajectory in technology-driven R&I in rural communities
This paper explores the challenge of “women in technology” in a rural region in Norway.
Like the other Nordic countries, Norway has a paradoxical low proportion of women in technology disciplines compared to how high these countries are rated on the annual World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, as well as other international comparisons. Most studies of women in technology have been concentrated to urban environments with a multitude of R&I institutions and, in academic spaces, in large institutions. In this paper we explore women’s career opportunities and trajectories in technology-driven research and innovation in public and private sectors in a rural and sparsely populated region in the Western part of Norway. How do women experience their career opportunities in this region? Where and how do they find support, alliance or resistance in this landscape where R&I institutions are limited in numbers and the units are small? The analysis is based on interviews with individual women as well as dialogues with networks of women from the Western part of Norway.
This study is part of the Nordic Centre of Excellence on Women in Technology-Driven Careers (2017-2022) funded by Nordforsk.