Carol Azungi Dralega and Hilde G. Corneliussen from Vestlandsforskning presented two papers on the Nordwit-project at the Second Nordic Challenge Conference arranged by the Centre for Nordic Studies (CENS), University of Helsinki, 7‒9 March 2018.
The presentations gave an insight into women’s technology-driven career trajectories within the fields of research, innovation and media, with focus on the rural and sparsely populated region of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.
‘Women’s career trajectory in technology-driven R&I in rural communities’
Hilde G. Corneliussen & Carol Azungi Dralega
This presentation explores the challenge of “women in technology” in a rural region in Norway. Like the other Nordic countries, Norway has a paradoxical low proportion of women in technology disciplines compared to how high these countries are rated on the annual World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, as well as other international comparisons. Most studies of women in technology have been concentrated to urban environments with a multitude of R&I institutions and, in academic spaces, in large institutions. In this paper we explore women’s career opportunities and trajectories in technology-driven research and innovation in public and private sectors in a rural and sparsely populated region in the Western part of Norway. How do women experience their career opportunities in this region? Where and how do they find support, alliance or resistance in this landscape where R&I institutions are limited in numbers and the units are small? The analysis is based on interviews with individual women as well as dialogues with networks of women from the Western part of Norway.
‘Women’s careers in technology-driven employment – Focus on female media practitioners in Sogn og Fjordane’
Carol Azungi Dralega
This presentation explores the nature and impact of ICTs on women’s careers as journalists in Sogn og Fjordane in the era of social media, media convergence and citizen journalism. Basing on the rapidly changing media ecology driven by developments in digital communication, this presentation shares insights on how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are impacting on the female journalists’ day-to-day practice and career ambitions. The context for this is two-fold: the gender paradox that shows that despite high gender equality in the Norwegian workplace (and other Scandinavian countries), fewer women are to be found in technology driven work arenas especially in the higher echelons of management and leadership not just in research and innovation but also in the media industry. It is the later, that this presentation dwells on, exploring how women are positioning themselves in the currently highly digitized media industry. The presentation explores the dynamics, relations and practices that constitute and strengthen but also weaken the power and agency of female media practitioners from the view point of the practitioners themselves.
NORDWIT 
One thought on “Papers presented at the #CENS2018”