The Women* Who Made It: Experiences from Being a Woman* at a Maker Festival

Nathalia Campreguer França; Dorothé Smit; Stefanie Wuschitz; Verena Fuchsberger

doi:10.3390/su13169361

The Women* Who Made It: Experiences from Being a Woman* at a Maker Festival

Nathalia Campreguer França
, Dorothé Smit^*
, Stefanie Wuschitz
, Verena Fuchsberger

^*Corresponding author for this work

Center for Human Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg
Technical University of Berlin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines the profile of 10 women* makers attending Schmiede, a 10-day maker festival, which is unique not least due to its almost equal gender distribution. Drawing on interviews with women* attendees, we describe general struggles in fitting in the culture of spaces for making, the role of mentorship in childhood and adulthood, motivations and different approaches for engaging in making, limiting factors in (art-)making, and the consequences of sexism for making practice. We then discuss the characteristics of these women* makers in relation to existing literature about the culture in maker spaces and festivals and conclude by highlighting characteristics of the observed festival that may have resulted in more inclusive access for women* and other underrepresented groups.

Original language	English
Article number	9361
Journal	Sustainability
Volume	13
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169361
Publication status	Published - 20 Aug 2021
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Makerspaces
Maker Culture
Gender

Classification according to Österreichische Systematik der Wissenschaftszweige (ÖFOS 2012)

102013 Human-computer interaction

Applied Research Level (ARL)

ARL Level 1 - Observation and description of a principle

Research focus/foci

Human-Centered Technologies & Design

Access to Document

10.3390/su13169361

2 Article
1 Other contribution

Making It Work—Experiences of Women Who Engage in Technological Making at Home
Regal, G., Smit, D., França, N. C., Fuchsberger, V. & Tscheligi, M., 8 May 2024, In: Interacting with Computers. 36, 1, p. 30-47
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Heterogeneity in making: Findings, approaches, and reflections on inclusivity in making and makerspaces
Fuchsberger, V., Smit, D., França, N. C., Gerdenitsch, C., Jaques, O., Kowolik, J., Regal, G. & Roodbergen, E., 6 Jan 2023, In: Frontiers in Human Dynamics. 4
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Making Access: Increasing Inclusiveness in Making
Fuchsberger, V., Smit, D., França, N. C., Regal, G., Wuschitz, S., Huber, B., Kowolik, J., Devendorf, L., Giaccardi, E. & Trotto, A., 28 Apr 2022, 5 p. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Research output: Other contribution › peer-review

Cite this

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title = "The Women* Who Made It: Experiences from Being a Woman* at a Maker Festival",

abstract = "This paper examines the profile of 10 women* makers attending Schmiede, a 10-day maker festival, which is unique not least due to its almost equal gender distribution. Drawing on interviews with women* attendees, we describe general struggles in fitting in the culture of spaces for making, the role of mentorship in childhood and adulthood, motivations and different approaches for engaging in making, limiting factors in (art-)making, and the consequences of sexism for making practice. We then discuss the characteristics of these women* makers in relation to existing literature about the culture in maker spaces and festivals and conclude by highlighting characteristics of the observed festival that may have resulted in more inclusive access for women* and other underrepresented groups.",

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PY - 2021/8/20

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AB - This paper examines the profile of 10 women* makers attending Schmiede, a 10-day maker festival, which is unique not least due to its almost equal gender distribution. Drawing on interviews with women* attendees, we describe general struggles in fitting in the culture of spaces for making, the role of mentorship in childhood and adulthood, motivations and different approaches for engaging in making, limiting factors in (art-)making, and the consequences of sexism for making practice. We then discuss the characteristics of these women* makers in relation to existing literature about the culture in maker spaces and festivals and conclude by highlighting characteristics of the observed festival that may have resulted in more inclusive access for women* and other underrepresented groups.

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KW - Maker Culture

KW - Gender

U2 - 10.3390/su13169361

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ER -

The Women* Who Made It: Experiences from Being a Woman* at a Maker Festival

Abstract

Keywords

Classification according to Österreichische Systematik der Wissenschaftszweige (ÖFOS 2012)

Applied Research Level (ARL)

Research focus/foci

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Making It Work—Experiences of Women Who Engage in Technological Making at Home

Heterogeneity in making: Findings, approaches, and reflections on inclusivity in making and makerspaces

Making Access: Increasing Inclusiveness in Making

Cite this