Gender and Technology

Part 1 (No less than 300 words) Read the following article and answer the questions at the end. The Economic Reason Why Men Should Do More Housework Women spend too much time on housework relative to men, new research suggests, and it’s probably dragging on U.S. productivity. That’s the first finding in this week’s economic research wrap, which also looks at changes in the way women have spent their days in recent years and summarizes studies on spillovers from central bank balance-sheet normalization. Check this column each Tuesday for new and topical research from around the world. Less time for bringing home the bacon Women have less time for on-the-job labor because they spend more time doing housework than their male counterparts — so they miss out when they’re working in fields that reward long hours, based on a new National Bureau for Economic Research study. Some women shy away from jobs in fields that require long workweeks, knowing they won’t have the time: a 10 percent cut in free time for women reduces their share in high-hour occupations by about 14 percent relative to men, according to the researcher’s model.In total, that difference in time spent on at-home labor results in an 11 percentage point gender wage gap, their analysis estimates. All of this may seem pretty intuitive, but here’s the surprise: the pattern hurts society as a whole. If labor were instead allocated in a gender-neutral way, welfare would increase and output per hour would climb by 5.4 percent as people made better use of their time, given their skills.” Our main message is that developing a theory of time allocation and occupational choice is important for understanding the forces that shape gender differences in labor market outcomes,” the researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, University of Toronto and Princeton University write. Hours, Occupations, and Gender Differences in Labor Market OutcomesPublished July 2017Available on the NBER website The silver lining in the gender labor divide On the bright side, women are finding a way to spend less time on chores and shopping, even if men aren’t stepping up to the plate when it comes to housework. A new Merrill Lynch analysis of American Time Use Survey data show that only 46 percent of prime-age women engaged in housework in 2014 to 2016, versus 52 percent in 2003 to 2005. Where women did housework, they were spending five minutes less on it, on average. That shift came as prime-age men contributed a few more minutes of housework, but not enough to offset the gap, suggesting that the tasks like laundry and cleaning are probably being outsourced, while online shopping is more efficient.As they spent less time on chores, women worked and slept more, the data show. The trend is probably going to persist going forward, the economists suggest, especially as younger groups of women have become more educated — affording them the affluence to work more and spend time with their families while hiring someone else to do the dusting. Instructions The amount of housework done by women has decreased since 1976, but the amount for men doubled. However, women still do significantly more housework than men in the U.S.  You should submit a meaningful post that addresses the following questions. (1) In your opinion, what is the reason for this disparity in housework? (2) How do you think these trends will change?                                                 Part 2 (No less than 500 words) Class Activity 1 Looking toward a Medical Future by Clare Bartlett, Adapted from the case study at https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/engineering-ethics/engineering-ethics-cases/looking-toward-a-medical-future/ (Links to an external site.) Anthony conducts research on emerging technologies in regenerative medicine. While on the train home from work, he starts chatting with the man sitting next to him. When Anthony mentions that he is researching regenerative medicine, the man becomes very interested and starts asking a lot of questions. Anthony ends up talking to the man for nearly an hour and explains to him the potential therapies which could be developed from his research. The man then says that he would want to undergo these experimental therapies even if it meant he would only live a couple more years. Anthony then realizes that this man is in a wheelchair (a divider prevented him from seeing this sooner), and that the man is willing to do anything to regain his ability to walk. Anthony explains that his research is many years away from human testing, but the man says he would sign up for any testing, even if it wasn’t safe. Class Activity 1 Questions In Corlann Bush’s assessment schema for new technologies, an equity analysis of technology would look at the technology as it affects four different areas: the developmental context, the user context, the environmental context, and the cultural context. 1.    Consider the technological development given above, analyze the equity of this technology using the four contexts discussed by Corlann Bush. 2.    Based upon your analysis, would you classify this technology as a “male” or “female” technology? Why? Class Activity Two In order to better understand the history of women’s work, we are going to look at an article from 1834 about a strike at the Lowell Mill in Lowell, Massachusetts. After you are finished reading the article, answer the questions at the end of the article. Lowell Mill Girls, 1834 Boston Transcript reports on the Strike     “We learn that extraordinary excitement was occasioned at Lowell, last week, by an announcement that the wages paid in some of the departments would be reduced 15 percent on the 1st of March. The reduction principally affected the female operatives, and they held several meetings, or caucuses, at which a young woman presided, who took an active part in persuading her associates to give notice that they should quit the mills, and to induce them to ‘make a run’ on the Lowell Bank and the Savings Bank, which they did. On Friday morning, the young woman referred to was dismissed, by the Agent…and on leaving the office…waved her calash in the air, as a signal to the others, who were watching from the windows, when they immediately ‘struck’ and assembled about her, in despite of the overseers.     “The number soon increased to nearly 800. A procession was formed, and they marched about the town, to the amusement of a mob of idlers and boys, and we are sorry to add, not altogether to the credit of Yankee girls….We are told that one of the leaders mounted a stump and made a flaming Mary Wollstonecraft speech on the rights of women and the iniquities of the ‘monied aristocracy,’ which produced a powerful effect on her auditors, and they determined to ‘have their way if they died for it.'” Class Activity Two Questions 1.    According to the Boston Transcript report, why had the workers gone out on strike? 2.    What form of activity had their protest taken? Was it like strikes among predominantly male workers during the same period, or was it distinctive? 3.    Why was their behavior, as the Boston Transcript stated it, “not altogether to the credit of Yankee girls”? What is the significance of calling them “Yankee”? Class Activity Three Review the Redstone article and answer the following questions. This article is also in Canvas (Redstone). 1.    What were the reasons for women who took employment at the Huntsville and Redstone arsenals during the war? 2.    There were some local misgivings about women working at the arsenal. Why did local people feel this way?     Part 3 (No less than 300 words) Class Activity 4 The following graphic is from a report on Working women: Key facts and trends in female labor force participation (Available at https://ourworldindata.org/female-labor-force-participation-key-facts (Links to an external site.)). This diagram is editable on the website. So, you can change the countries. After reviewing this graph, please answer the following questions. 1.    Choose two countries represented on this graph to analyze (you cannot choose the United States). 2.    Consider the women’s labor force participation rates for your two countries from 1980 to 2016. What factors could account for the trends in female participation rates for your two countries? Please be specific. Section 5 Class Activity Consider the technology-related stereotypes of men and women that were discussed in this section. 1.    Choose one technology-related stereotype. 2.    Discuss the cultural implications of this stereotype. What does this stereotype say about our culture? 3.    Consider another country in the world. Is this stereotype the same in that country? Please cite your sources in your response (i.e., where did you get your information?).

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