Women in Repair: Rosie the Repairer
We’ve all seen Rosie the Riveter: blue coveralls, red polka-dotted bandanna, biceps blazing. Rosie is a cultural icon, used to mobilize women into manufacturing during World War II. But sixty years after Rosie helped recruit 3 million women into war plants across the US, many women still seem reluctant to pick up the riveter.
Women make up over half of the population. So, why aren’t there more women repairing? Women are underrepresented in many fields—especially technical fields. In 1997, women earned just 33.8% of degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). By 2007, that number had dropped to 27.5%. As a woman in STEM, I’ve thought a lot about what stops women from joining our ranks. Maybe women don’t replace their hard drives for the same reason they don’t often change a tire: lack of confidence.
According to STEM professor Joanne McGrath Cohoon,
Evidence continues to mount that capable women in technical fields have less confidence than men that they will be successful. Researchers at Stanford University recently published new findings that women engineering students perform as well as men, but are more likely than men to switch to a different major. These women switch because they don’t believe that their skills are good enough and they don’t feel like they ‘fit’ in engineering.
Women face a stigma in technical fields because, as Cohoon points out, “most people assume that men are better than women at technical things.” The study revealed an even stronger stereotype in non-computer majors: “Male non-computer majors have more confidence in their computing skills than do women computer science majors. This finding shows that students believe being male bestows more computing skill than does studying computer science.”
Stereotypes are not an accurate barometer of truth. Women do have the skills and the resources to repair—we just have to give them the confidence to flex their repair muscles, like Rosie. We want our guides to be so clear “that your grandmother could do the repair.” While this statement is blatantly sexist (we know at least one grandmother who could run repair circles around most people), the real question is, would most grandmothers have the confidence to even try?
Just giving women the opportunity to repair is the first step to closing the confidence gap. Women should be presented with opportunities to build, fix, and make in classrooms, at work, and in home environments. And the younger they start, the better. There’s no reason a toolbox has to be a toy just for boys. We’ve helped plenty of young girls fix electronics. Once they get started, girls take to repair just as quickly as the boys do. We also have to give women a fair chance, which means a fair chance to fail without judgement. Recognizing that these judgements are based on false perception, not on fact, is the best way to take down the stereotype.
Every woman must know that she can fix the world. She must be encouraged and empowered to be bold, not afraid to grab a spudger and gut her gadgets. Our mission is to give every person the power, authority, and know-how to repair the stuff they own. But, until women join the repair ranks, we can only expect half success. That’s not enough.
We can’t just look at Rosie as a symbol of a bygone era. Instead, we should view her as a very modern repairer of gender equity and consumables alike. Rosie’s message is one of confidence and empowerment—the same message that women today need to hear about repair: “We can do it!”
Comments
“Male non-computer majors have more confidence in their computing skills than do women computer science majors. This finding shows that students believe being male bestows more computing skill than does studying computer science.”Somebody fails elementary logic. “Males believe their sex imparts inherent skills” does not at all follow from “males are more confident in their skills.”
I don’t think it’s a lack of confidence, but rather of interest. Most of my friends who were into repairing/building computers started because they were into gaming and wanted to build a gaming rig. From there it continues. Beware of focusing on the wrong aspect.
The CS dept. of my school has a program specifically to show high-school girls that “computer science can be fun for girls too!”. Since then, they have about twice as many girls (percentage-wise) than mech. or electrical engineering in the first year. But generally, you notice that the ones who pass are the ones who were interested already before and would have picked CS anyway, and most of the ones who were convinced through this program fail or drop out. Not a question of skills or confidence, just interest -> motivation -> discipline.
Go to the root, not the symptom. Get them interested, confidence will follow.
Right on, Brittany! My radical dad — in the 1960s — raised both my brother and me using tools of all kinds, and I know that’s made a major difference in my life, probably in more ways than I can fully appreciate. And in my house, I’m the only female AND the undisputed fix-it maven. (I also have both a BS and Master’s in architecture … not afraid of math. I love it.) Thanks, Dad!
This is great! My mother was born in 1917, one of 9 children living through the depression. She knew how to fix everything and wasn’t afraid to try if she didn’t. Luckily she passed on her talents & moxie to her daughter. I may not be a grandmother but I’m 60 yrs. old and not afraid of a tool box or a computer! I was on my own at 19 and had to learn how to repair things. When you fix something with your own two hands and it works, that builds confidence. I got involved with computers in the late 70s and at that time repair what part of the deal. Today, we are more specialized, but math, science, architecture, engineering can be introduced at a younger age through interesting projects that captures kids interest. I’ve seen it done, and it works wonders for confidence.
Are you going to make a Microsoft Surface teardown
small hands and fingers can be an advantage when repairing electronics.
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