Forging New Paths  for Women in Technology Read Dr. Cheris Kramarae's Research Project: The Third Shift - Women Learning Online During the early seventies, she was one of the first faculty members in the humanities at the University of Illinois to utilize a computer for database management. In the eighties, when Internet technology was first being transferred from the government to universities and was predominantly used by male faculty members in the sciences, she was among the first to have her office hard wired so that she could have access to it. Dr. Cheris Kramarae, the AAUW Educational Foundation’s first Scholar-in-Residence who is conducting research on women and distance learning, understands first-hand the challenges that women have faced in gaining access to technology.

Dr. Cheris Kramarae AAUW Scholar-in-Residence 1999-2000

Throughout her distinguished career she has published numerous books and articles on topics related to communication, gender, and technology.  Dr. Kramarae is currently a Distinguished Professor of Women’s Studies, Linguistics, and Speech Communications at the University of Illinois where she has taught since 1965 and a Courtesy Professor for the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon. Unfortunately, Dr. Kramarae’s enthusiasm for new technology has often been tempered by frustration that women’s interests were rarely represented in its development and use. Dr. Kramarae initiated a model program at the University of Illinois called Women, Information Technology, & Scholarship (WITS) to enable women faculty and staff members to provide computing support for each other and to give women a voice in determining the technology priorities for the university. Technology has made our society increasingly global and Dr. Kramarae recognizes the importance of studying issues related to women and technology in other countries around the world.   She is currently the International Dean for the Information/Technology project area of the International Women’s University scheduled for next summer in Germany and is co-editing the Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women. Dr. Kramarae clearly understands the possibilities and problems of new communication technologies in higher education.  She will study the educational aspirations and needs of adult women of various ages and backgrounds and the ways that they can most satisfactorily use distance learning methods and technologies.  Her research is critical since little attention has been paid to United States women’s interest in the new and rapidly increasing uses of technology–based distance education. “If distance learning is to be a real educational revolution, and not just similar problems in a new format for women, then women’s interests and insights will need to be involved at all stages,”  says Kramarae.  Scholar-in-Residence Program     AAUW of VA Homepage