Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that one of the greatest changes that has impacted working conditions and careers has been the advent and rapid growth of technology. This massive change has also impacted women workers. The writer discusses that one might have expected that technology would have had a primarily positive impact, given that technology reduces the importance of brute physical strength, and that this is the only variable in which most women have any intrinsic disadvantage, relative to most men. However, the writer maintains that in general, technology does not seem to have been to the advantage of women. The writer argues that technology has had a negative impact on women workers and their careers. This is due not to technology itself, but rather to persistent, sexist stereotypes about what is "natural" for men and women.

From the Paper:

"Sim and Yong blame this gender-based polarization on gender-based socialization and stereotyping that negatively impacts women's education and skills training. While this is at last declining, it still functions to prevent most women from gaining the career benefits from technology that are available to so many men."
"When it comes to higher level jobs, and especially jobs that are in high-tech fields such as computerization, medicine, science, and engineering, there appears to be a widespread trend for sexist perceptions about women's abilities to function as a bar that prevents most women from benefiting from the career opportunities opened up by new technology. For example, Whitney notes that women in medicine are still subject to discrimination with regard to admission to medical school, residency selections, appointment of faculty, and advancement. Indeed, Adams argues that medicine has been characterized by active hostility towards the incursions of women physicians, as has dentistry."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adams, T. L. (1998). Gender and Women's Employment in the Male-Dominated Profession of Dentistry: 1867-1917. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 35(1), 21+.
• Dauber, R. & Cain, M. L. (Eds.). (1981). Women and Technological Change in Developing Countries. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Gothoskar, S. (1995). Computerization and Women's Employment in India's Banking Sector. In Women Encounter Technology: Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World, Mitter, S. & Rowbotham, S. (Eds.) (pp. 150-174). New York: Routledge.
• Lim, Linda Y. C. (1981). Women's Work in Multinational Electronics Factories. In Dauber, R. & Cain, M. L. (Eds.). (pp. 181+). Women and Technological Change in Developing Countries. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Mitter, S. & Rowbotham, S. (Eds.) (1995). Women Encounter Technology: Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World. New York: Routledge.

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