ABSTRACT

Physics- and computer-related disciplines are strongly male dominated in Western higher education. Feminist research has demonstrated how this can be understood as reflecting a strong privileging of mind and rationality (over body/nature/emotions) in these disciplines, which harmonises with broader notions of masculinity as transcendental and disembodied. However, as we demonstrate in this paper, being recognised as legitimate in these fields is also tightly connected to embodiment. Drawing on post-structural gender theory, we explore how notions of corporeality, style and aesthetics are articulated within computer engineering and physics settings at two higher education institutions, one in Canada, one in Sweden. Using empirical data from two case studies, we demonstrate that these disciplines are usually understood as ‘gender neutral’ by students but that interest and competence in these fields are simultaneously understood as embodied through neglect for style and corporeal aesthetics, in ways that contribute to the masculinisation of these fields.

摘要

物理和计算机相关学科在西方高等教育中以男性为主。女权主义研究表明，这可以被理解为反映了这些学科中对思想和理性（超越身体/自然/情感）的强烈特权，这与更广泛的男性气质概念相协调，即超然的和无形的。然而，正如我们在本文中所展示的，在这些领域被认为是合法的也与具体化密切相关。借鉴后结构性别理论，我们探讨了身体、风格和美学的概念如何在两所高等教育机构的计算机工程和物理环境中表达，一所在加拿大，一所在瑞典。使用来自两个案例研究的经验数据，