Makers and Quilters

Abstract

Recent efforts to diversify participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) activities through informal learning environments, such as hackathons and makerspaces, confirm a real desire for inclusion among potential female participants. However, understanding factors that may contribute to longer-term, sustainable diversification of such groups remains a challenge. In this paper, we present the results of a mixed-methods study of two microcosms of making: game development, and quilting. Our findings reveal parallel structures within these groups despite being highly skewed towards male or female participation, respectively. Our results shed light on attitudes, behaviours, and experiences indicating that similar desires for wider community support among other factors exist in both groups, but these needs are not satisfied in the STEM context. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings as opportunities for rethinking how we design the environments that are meant to support design itself, considering the role of technology in these spaces, and prioritizing nurturing the development of the maker community beyond the maker space.

The Women* Who Made It: Experiences from Being a Woman* at a Maker Festival

“…Beyond simply increasing the number of women* taking part in technological making practices, with this research, we intend to contribute to the identification of measures that support meaningful participation of women* and other underrepresented groups in these spaces. While much research has been done in the past decade into the circumstances and characteristics of makerspaces with overwhelming male presence (see, e.g., [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]), as well as feminist and women*-only makerspaces (see, e.g., [15][16][17][18][19]), less research has been done in spaces that have achieved a proportional gender balance, and the reasons behind this balance.…”