Programming Inequality - What's Going on in the U K?

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In the 19 forties, the u k. Was a leader in computing but by the 19 seventies it had lost that kind of edge and leadership roll. The reason this gendered labor change occurred was that computing work become harder or more technically difficult. As it becomes seen as more important there's an effort to get women out of the field so men can take their place. This led to some strange decisions which ultimately ended up costing the british industry its once successful business model.

Paris Marx is joined by Mar Hicks to discuss why we need to know the history of tech and how the British history of sexism and colonialism in computing has lessons for the present-day US tech industry.

Mar Hicks is the co-editor of “Your Computer Is on Fire,” along with Thomas S. Mullaney, Benjamin Peters, and Kavita Philip. They are also the author of “Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing” and an Associate Professor of the History of Technology at Illinois Tech. Follow Mar on Twitter as @histoftech.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Mar wrote about the story of COBOL computer systems in the early months of the pandemic and how Britain killed its tech industry.
Google fired top AI ethicists Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell after their research was critical of the company’s practices. Diversity recruiter April Christina Curley was also fired in September 2020.

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