Published in December 2022
A simple search of images of women building robots led, not surprisingly, to Sophia or sex robots. Andra Keay, the managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics and a founder of the professional network Women in Robotics, found that most of the top 100 results were female robots, compared to fewer than five pictures of real women engaged in robotics.
In a bid to further the mission of Women in Robotics, a campaign, the Women in Robotics Photo Challenge, was launched by her last year, resulting in some great photos of females building robots joining the image search gallery.
Keay, in an authored article, observed, “Our wonderful annual Ada Lovelace Day list hosted on Robohub has increased the awareness of many ‘new’ faces in robotics. But we have been forced to use profile pictures, primarily because that’s what is available. That’s also the tradition for profile pieces about the work that women do in robotics. The focus is on the woman, not the woman building or programming, or testing the robot. That means that the images are not quite right as role models.”
The no-show images of women in robotics should not be shocking. The story of women in science being marginalized is nothing new. Six women who programmed the first electronic computer — the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), built during World War II — were never credited for the work. More telling was that, in a picture of them along with the computer, they were dismissed as “refrigerator ladies.” It was only after almost 40 years that their work was recognized via the ENIAC Programmers Project.
Very few women are feted for their achievements in the field of science. To date, women have won only 24 of the 637 Nobel Prizes awarded in physics, chemistry, or medicine. Also, only 60 women in total were awarded the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2022. The proportion of women engaged in research is just 28% worldwide.
In the mid-1980s, 37% of computer science majors were women, but this has fallen to 18% now. Women in business peaked in 1999, when female participation in the labor force was 60%. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, it stood at 56.1% in 2021 and is projected to drop to 55.5% by 2031.
The Women in Robotics 2022 list notes that not much has changed since the days of Countess Ada Lovelace, whom it calls “the world’s first computer programmer and an extraordinary mathematician.” Lovelace faced gender bias nearly two centuries ago. The intervening two centuries have not changed the environment for women in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM).
“Women in STEM need to be equally represented at conferences, keynotes, magazine covers, or stories about technology. Although this is starting to change, the change is not happening quickly enough,” the list’s authors write. Women delivered 28% of keynotes at major tech conferences between 2017 and 2019, according to Ensono’s Speak Up report.
The lack of diversity in the tech sector is ongoing. Women made up only about 33% of the workforce at large global tech firms in 2022, and just 25% of those in technical roles, according to Deloitte.
The question arises: Why do well-educated women in the STEM field tend to either quit midway or hit a glass ceiling? Women cite “bro culture” at tech companies as the main disadvantage. Others cite a lack of growth opportunities and of a family-friendly atmosphere. Another reason is pay disparity. Research shows women make 82 cents for every dollar men make.
The world is marching towards the fourth industrial revolution of automation and robotics. However, women are still being left behind in this stride forward.
A diverse environment is a key determinant of success in any society. An inclusive environment promotes innovation both in processes and form.
