Recognizing a collective inheritance through the history of women in computing

Abstract

In her article "Recognizing a Collective Inheritance through the History of Women in Computing" Erika E. Smith engages with the following question: how might we create the space for women in the history of computing that is deserved? Even with the proliferation of social, political, and historical engagement with feminist theory and computing technology, there remains a lack of scholarship on the topic of women in the history of computing. Given the dearth of historical accounts on the role of women in computing the task of delving into such history becomes necessary - if difficult - one. Smith's objective is to examine a spectrum of contemporary feminist theory as it relates to our inherited (hi)stories of women in computing. In charting these (hi)stories, Smith compares diverging feminist theories helpful in shedding further light on historical accounts of women in computing largely forgotten. Purdue University Press ©Purdue University.