A master course on ‘Gender Issues in ICT’
door Th.P.van der Weide
Theo van der Weide is professor of Information Retrieval and Information Systems Digital Security at the Institute for Computing and Information Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen. In the context of the cooperation between the public universities in Uganda and the Radboud University of Nijmegen, he organised a course on Gender Issues in ICT.
The objective of this ‘Gender Issues in ICT’ course is to enhance gender awareness with young academics in the field of ICT, meaning training them to become knowledgeable and sensitive about where and how gender related traditional patterns can play a significant role within ICT applications in society.
The objectives for this course are defined as follows:
Students
- can relate gender issues in ICT to economic values
- will have a common understanding of gender issues in ICT
- are able to apply gender awareness:
- in practical situations
- at different levels of education
- in the context of urban and rural environment
- from a global point of view
- improve that practical situation using ICTs
- set up a research theme in the area of gender & ICT
To achieve these objectives, the course is organized as a practicum. The participants are divided into smaller groups. Each group chooses a socially relevant subject for further research by the course material provided. After the course these research results are presented to a representative from society.
The educational approach
In order to motivate our educational approach, we use the architectural model of competence as proposed by Roe (1999). The architecture, adapted to the context of the course, is displayed in Figure 1. In this figure we position how we divided the course in 3 phases: (1) preparation, (2) the course week, and (3) the assignment.
Figure 1. The architectural model of competence
The preparation phase of the course brings students from various backgrounds to the entry level of the second phase. During the course week of the second phase, the students acquire the first 2 objectives, and partly objective 3 (see previous sub section). During this week KSAs (knowledge, skills and attitudes) are strengthened, by practical exercises the participant develop basic competences. During phase 3, we focus on the competencies that were defined in the previous sections.
These competences are reflected in objectives 3 and 4. To train these competences, the participants work on a practical assignment where gender issues play an essential role in an ICT application.
Set-up of the course
The course (6 ec) is divided in 3 phases (1 ec, European credit, equals 28 working hours; so 6 ec corresponds to 168 h).
As this course is intended to be accessible for a broad audience, we have chosen to work with a delayed admission procedure during the preparation phase of the course. The idea is that the admissions requirements are formally checked only after phase 1 of the course. The advantage is that interested students can try to enter the course at the risk of a small investment during this first phase.
The preparation phase (1 ec)
The intention of this first phase is to bring the participants, possibly from different backgrounds, on the entry level for the fundamental phase, reaching a common understanding of basic ICT knowledge and of gender issues.
The students will also be assigned a case and have to make a description and requirements analysis. For this purpose, the students team up in smaller groups. Their different backgrounds are used to form effective multi-disciplinary teams.
In terms of the architectural competence model, this phase will bring the participants to the required disposition: their abilities, personality traits and biographical traits.
The fundamental phase (1 ec)
During the course week we offer internationally oriented lectures in the morning. The afternoon is meant for practical study and further detailing of their research issues in their case using the material offered in the morning sessions. Every day a closing session is organized to evaluate and give feedback. Hereafter, the students make an analysis of their case needs described in a project plan, along with an improvement statement, and the proposed implementation steps. It will also indicate how and why ICT is being used, and how gender issues are taken care of.
Figure 2. The three levels of the Management Hierarchy
To make the proposed solution sustainable, the three level approach is used, as described in the management hierarchy (the control pyramid). The participants have to explain their contribution to each of these three levels. The strategic level is for long-term decisions. The tactical level is for mid-term decisions following the plans from the strategic level, conveying the feedback from the operational level. On the operational level we find the short-term decisions, there where individual entities are handled. In terms of risk management, the costs of a wrong decision on the operational level is relatively low; the costs of a wrong decision at the strategic level is high.
The practical phase (4 ec)
In this final phase the project plan is carried out. The students work on their assignments in teams working highly independent in many cases, especially when it concerns a rural area project. After finishing their project, the participants summarize their findings in their project report, including their personal reflections.
For more information on this project, see:
http://uganda.cs.ru.nl
For an extended article about this issue by Theo van der Weide and Nicole Flipsen, see:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a917853655&db=all