The geek as gatekeeper? Changing relations between gender, race and technology

The panel will explain how the project aims to trace how the figuration of ‘the geek’ includes and excludes and how its shifting articulations are transforming available identities in technology education. The geek, often derided but also identified as stereotype and gatekeeper of technology in educational research, is on the rise today, increasingly linked to entrepreneurialism and success. 

This project breaks with previous STEM studies in not contending with rejecting the geek, instead exploring the logics at play in gendering and racialising the geek and ‘his’ passion for technology through looking outside formal education. 

The project consists of three sub-studies, each analysing a context with both traditional geek representations and spaces where the geek is re-articulated and resisted. These are: 

• Popular culture (film, TV and their viewing)
• Open source coding/gaming communities (weekend gatherings and on-line)
• Higher Education (student clubs/events)

This event will be particularly useful for those interested in gender, race, technology, higher education, gaming and popular culture.

Related links

• Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU)
• TCRU seminar series
• Social Research Institute