I Look Like an Engineer

Last updated

The I Look Like an Engineer movement was created in August 2015 by software developer Isis Anchalee (formerly Isis Wenger) as a response to the backlash the OneLogin recruitment ad in which she was featured received. The movement aspired to break the stereotypes and promote diversity around underrepresented groups, particularly women, POC, and LGBTQ+ individuals in engineering fields. Its primary tactic is the use of the hashtag #ILookLikeAnEngineer on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, along with pictures of engineers or engineering students.

Contents

The I Look Like an Engineer movement has sparked other similar movements that also seek to break stereotypes in their industry, such as I Look Like a Surgeon, [1] I Look like a Professor and I Look Like a Civil Engineer. [2]

OneLogin campaign

In the summer of 2015 OneLogin, a software company, created a recruitment campaign aimed at attracting engineers to their home office in San Francisco, California. Four employees were invited to participate, including Anchalee. The ads were placed in the BART public transit stations and showed several OneLogin engineers sharing their experience working for the company. The ad featuring Anchalee went viral on several social media sites. [3] [4] [5] A week after the launch of the campaign went viral, OneLogin posted an article on their blog that talked about the importance of diversity, inclusion, and innovation. [6]

Movement beginnings

The OneLogin recruitment ad featuring Isis Anchalee went viral as her particular ad received comments stating the belief that she was a model and not an actual engineer. Anchalee took to social media where she posted a picture of herself holding a piece of paper describing her job and a caption with the hashtag, #ILookLikeanEngineer. In her post she stated her belief that it is important to raise awareness in tech diversity and break the stereotypes of what an engineer should look like. [7] [8]

Her post started the hashtag trend and the hashtag was used 86,000 times by August 7, 2015. The hashtag has been used in approximately 50 countries. The hashtag is mainly used by women and LGBTQ engineers. [9] [10] [11] Subsequently, Anchalee put up a now-defunct webpage to establish a safe platform for individuals to share their experiences related to diversity issues within tech fields.

Support

In an effort to make a lasting impact, Michelle Glauser (the spouse of Anchalee's co-worker) began a fundraising campaign using Indiegogo to create billboards with pictures that people had shared on social media using the hashtag #ILookLikeanEngineer. The proceeds were used to put up more billboards to further the I Look Like an Engineer campaign and excess proceeds were used to fund organizations that teach programming to minorities. The fundraiser’s goal was to raise $3,500. The campaigned ended on September 5, 2015 with $47,285 raised. [12]

Concurrently, an #ILookLikeanEngineer community gathering organized by Glauser through Eventbrite as part of efforts to continue further the movement was hosted on August 13, 2015, in San Francisco. During the gathering, photographers collected portraits of willing participants for the billboards and as an effort to document the event. The event was sponsored by Segment, Rackspace, OneLogin, and HackBright Academy. The event included networking, discussions and a Q&A panel which included Anchalee, Alicia Morga, Wayne Sutton, Erica Baker, Leslie Miley, and Dom DeGuzman.

Significance

The struggles that women face in the field of engineering have a long-documented history. In the postwar era, female engineering students found themselves in a mixture of conflicting and positive situations that shaped not only their professional experiences but the field itself. Women faced backlash from not just male students and professors who objectified and viewed female engineers as potential girlfriends instead of fellow students, but also from women faculty or older female students who demanded that younger women endure the same struggles they did. [13]

The campus and corporate climate did not change until the mid-1970s when companies began to face civil rights pressure to be more inclusive of female engineers. However, even with these radical changes women continued to experience subtle and overt forms of discrimination in the workplace. During the 1970s, organizations like the Society of Women Engineers (founded in 1952) among others provided women with support and guidance both on college campuses and in the corporate world. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Internet activism involves the use of electronic-communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular information to large and specific audiences, as well as coordination. Internet technologies are used by activists for cause-related fundraising, community building, lobbying, and organizing. A digital-activism campaign is "an organized public effort, making collective claims on a target authority, in which civic initiators or supporters use digital media." Research has started to address specifically how activist/advocacy groups in the U.S. and in Canada use social media to achieve digital-activism objectives.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a worldwide marketing campaign launched by Unilever in 2004 aiming to build self confidence in women and young children. Dove's partners in the campaign included Ogilvy, Edelman Public Relations, and Harbinger Communications along with other consultants. Part of the overall project was the Evolution campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Mini Storage</span>

Manhattan Mini Storage is a Manhattan-based self storage company in New York City, United States. Founded in 1978, the company serves New York neighborhoods from 17 storage locations. The company prides itself on its creative marketing efforts and charitable giving. Manhattan Mini Storage was acquired by StorageMart in December 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Smith</span> American engineer

Megan J. Smith is an American engineer and technologist. She was the third Chief Technology Officer of the United States and Assistant to the President, serving under President Barack Obama. She was previously a vice president at Google, leading new business development and early-stage partnerships across Google's global engineering and product teams at Google for nine years, was general manager of Google.org, a vice president briefly at Google[x] where she co-created WomenTechmakers, is the former CEO of Planet Out and worked as an engineer on early smartphones at General Magic. She serves on the boards of MIT and Vital Voices, was a member of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Aid and co-founded the Malala Fund. Today Smith is the CEO and Founder of shift7. On September 4, 2014, she was named as the third U.S. CTO, succeeding Todd Park, and serving until January, 2017.

Networked feminism is a phenomenon that can be described as the online mobilization and coordination of feminists in response to sexist, misogynistic, racist, and other discriminatory acts against minority groups. This phenomenon covers all possible definitions of what feminist movements may entail, as there have been multiple waves of feminist movements and there is no central authority to control what the term "feminism" claims to be. While one may hold a different opinion from another on the definition of "feminism", all those who believe in these movements and ideologies share the same goal of dismantling the current patriarchal social structure, where men hold primary power and higher social privileges above all others. Networked feminism is not spearheaded by one singular women's group. Rather, it is the manifestation of feminists' ability to leverage the internet to make traditionally unrepresented voices and viewpoints heard. Networked feminism occurs when social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr are used as a catalyst in the promotion of feminist equality and in response to sexism. Users of these social media websites promote the advancement of feminism using tools such as viral Facebook groups and hashtags. These tools are used to push gender equality and call attention to those promoting anything otherwise. Online feminist work is a new engine of contemporary feminism. With the possibility of connecting and communicating all around the world through the Internet, no other form of activism in history has brought together and empowered so many people to take action on a singular issue.

Feminist Digital Humanities is a more recent development in the field of Digital Humanities, a project incorporating digital and computational methods as part of its research methodology. Feminist Digital Humanities has risen partly because of recent criticism of the propensity of Digital Humanities to further patriarchal or hegemonic discourses in the Academy. Women are rapidly dominating social media in order to educate people about feminist growth and contributions. Research proves the rapid growth of Feminist Digital Humanities started during the post-feminism era around from the 1980s to 1990s. Such feminists’ works provides examples through the text technology, social conditions of literature and rhetorical analysis. Feminist Digital Humanities aims to identify and explore women's digital contributions as well as articulate where and why these contributions are important.

Black Twitter is an internet community largely consisting of the Black diaspora of users on the social network X, focused on issues of interest to the black community. Feminista Jones described it in Salon as "a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who have created a virtual community proving adept at bringing about a wide range of sociopolitical changes." A similar Black Twitter community arose in South Africa in the early 2010s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hashtag activism</span> Use of hashtags for internet activism

Hashtag activism refers to the use of social media hashtags for Internet activism. The hashtag has become one of the many ways that social media contributes to civic engagement and social movements. The use of the hashtag on social media provides users with an opportunity to share information and opinions about social issues in a way that others (followers) can interact and engage as part of a larger conversation with the potential to create change. The hashtag itself consists of a word or phrase that is connected to a social or political issue, and fosters a place where discourse can occur. Social media provides an important platform for historically marginalized populations. Through the use of hashtags these groups are able to communicate, mobilize, and advocate for issues less visible to the mainstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YesAllWomen</span> Online feminist movement

#YesAllWomen is a Twitter hashtag and social media campaign in which users share examples or stories of misogyny and violence against women. First used in online conversations about misogyny following the 2014 Isla Vista killings, the hashtag was popular in May 2014, and was created partly in response to the Twitter hashtag #NotAllMen. #YesAllWomen reflected a grassroots campaign in which women shared their personal stories about harassment and discrimination. The campaign attempted to raise awareness of sexism that women experience, often from people they know.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminism and media</span> Use of media by feminist movements

The socio-political movements and ideologies of feminism have found expression in various media. These media include newspaper, literature, radio, television, social media, film, and video games. They have been essential to the success of many feminist movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer Engineer Barbie</span> 126th career version of Mattels Barbie doll

Computer Engineer Barbie is the 126th career version of Mattel's Barbie doll. In response to poll results indicating strong support for computer engineers, the doll set was created and introduced in 2010. In 2014, Mattel apologized for the accompanying book, I Can Be a Computer Engineer, after complaints that it represented Barbie as incompetent in the field, needing the help of men.

The portrayal of ISIL in American media has largely been negative. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been linked in the American media to several atrocities throughout the Middle East. Most recently U.S. coverage has linked ISIL members to burning alive the Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh, the beheadings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and most recently, because the perpetrator of the June 2016 Orlando mass shooting- America's second deadliest- reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIL and its leader in a phone call to 911 operators just before the incident. The American public was introduced to ISIL with these actions. This contrasts with the renewed prominence of al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks in the media. That coverage focused on the United States' response to the attacks, while the coverage of ISIL started with the organization itself and evolved to cover America's potential strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girls Who Code</span> Nonprofit organization

Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit organization that aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science. Among its programs are a summer immersion program, a specialized campus program, after-school clubs, a college club, College Loops, and a series of books. The organization is based in New York and has programs in all of the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. As of 2022, there were more than 500,000 Girls Who Code alums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Chou</span> American software engineer

Tracy Chou is a software engineer and advocate for diversity in technology related fields. She previously worked at Pinterest and Quora with internship experience at Google and Facebook.

#BlkWomenSyllabus(Black Women Syllabus), is a Twitter movement using the hashtags #blkwomensyllabus or #blackwomensyllabus to compile a list of recommendations for readings about black women. Imani Brammer at Essence Magazine has described it as "a reading list to empower Black women", and according to the blog For Harriet, "the hashtag was initiated by Dr. Daina Ramey Berry and...Scholars, historians, writers, editors and more have contributed to the growing trend."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SayHerName</span> American social movement

#SayHerName is a social movement that seeks to raise awareness for Black women victims of police brutality and anti-Black violence in the United States. The movement's name was created by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF). #SayHerName aims to highlight the gender-specific ways in which Black women are disproportionately affected by fatal acts of racial injustice. In an effort to create a large social media presence alongside existing racial justice campaigns, such as #BlackLivesMatter and #BlackGirlsMatter, the AAPF coined the hashtag #SayHerName in December 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ShoutYourAbortion</span> Pro-abortion social media campaign

#ShoutYourAbortion is a pro-abortion social media campaign where people share their abortion experiences online without "sadness, shame or regret" for the purpose of "destigmatization, normalization, and putting an end to shame." Tens of thousands of people worldwide have shared their abortion experiences online using the hashtag #ShoutYourAbortion. The Shout Your Abortion campaign was started on September 19, 2015, by American activists Lindy West, Amelia Bonow, and Kimberly Morrison, in response to efforts by the United States House of Representatives to defund Planned Parenthood following the Planned Parenthood 2015 undercover videos controversy. The hashtag has received both positive and negative attention within social media and the mainstream media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isis Anchalee</span> Canadian full-stack engineer

Isis Anchalee is a Canadian full-stack engineer.

Heather Logghe is a surgical research fellow at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She started the viral movement #ILookLikeASurgeon, a hashtag that reached over one hundred million people on Twitter.

#DeafTalent is a hashtag used to highlight through social media the capabilities of the deaf and hard of hearing community. Prior to the hashtag's emergence, in the creative industry, hearing actors had been cast in deaf roles. The SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia wrote, "In response to this, the social media hashtags #DeafTalent and #POCDeafTalent were created. The hashtags, while originally used to point out problematic portrayals of deaf characters and sign language in the media, are now also used to celebrate the wide breadth and multiplicity of deaf actors, artists, and other talent in the world."

References

  1. ↑ Engel, Meredith. "'I Look Like a Surgeon' hashtag takes off after 'I Look Like an Engineer' movement that celebrated women in STEM". New York Daily News. New York Daily News. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Diversity in Civil Engineering – I Look Like a Civil Engineer". www.ilooklikeacivilengineer.com. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  3. ↑ "What does an engineer look like?". BBC News. 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  4. ↑ Fellow, Lorenzo Ligato Editorial; Post, The Huffington (2015-08-04). "#ILookLikeAnEngineer Destroys The Tech Nerd Stereotype". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  5. ↑ Varn, Kathryn (2015-08-05). "Woman Behind #ILookLikeAnEngineer Says Campaign Against Gender Stereotypes Is 'Long Overdue'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  6. ↑ "We are OneLogin - OneLogin". OneLogin. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  7. ↑ Lien, Tracy (4 August 2015). "Think you know what an engineer looks like? #ilooklikeanengineer says think again". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Tyler, Carolyn (6 August 2015). "BAY AREA WOMAN CHALLENGES ENGINEER STEREOTYPES IN NEW AD CAMPAIGN". ABC 7 News . ABC. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Tan, Avianne. "ILookLikeAnEngineer Campaign Expands From Twitter to Billboard in Fight Against Stereotypes". ABC News. ABC. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Mather, Laura (20 August 2015). "From Awareness to Action: How Technology Can Transform Its Industry's Own Bias Problem". Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Anchalee, Isis (2015-08-01). "You May Have Seen My Face on BART – The Coffeelicious". Medium. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  12. ↑ "Let's Put Up An #ILookLikeAnEngineer Billboard". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  13. 1 2 Bix, Amy (2014). Girls Coming to Tech . MIT Press. ISBN   9780262019545.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.