STS in NYC (Alchemy Issue 3)

The first thing that strikes me about New York is just how damn hot it is.

I walk out of JFK airport at 10pm on an early September evening and a wall of muggy heat hits me. I’m English: I’m not used to it being hot at night. I find the Uber that’s going to drive me to the apartment  where I’ll be spending my first two weeks in New York, and as we start the long drive I watch the orange and yellow blurs of city lights flash past the window and think about the two months ahead of me.

I’m in New York to conduct fieldwork at a makerspace here. My PhD explores the global makerspace movement as a promising new site for supporting women’s engagement with technology. We live in a world where technology is pervasive, shaping everything from our communications to our modes of travel. Being able to understand and critically engage with technology is therefore essential for navigating everyday life and exerting agency over our collective social and political future. However, for various reasons, women and girls typically have fewer opportunities to get involved with technology and engineering than men and boys do.

Makerspaces can help with this. A makerspace is a shared machine shop that provides a set of tools and machinery for making things. This usually includes digital fabrication tools like 3D printers and laser cutters, electronics tools, soldering irons, crafts tools, and wood-working tools. A huge variety of things are created within makerspaces, from wooden tables and knitted scarves to bicycle-powered Scalextric tracks and motorised life-size replica Daleks. Makerspaces, unlike university engineering departments or technology companies, do not have any formal barriers to entry: anybody can access them, regardless of their level of technical knowledge. And most importantly, makerspaces are not just collectives of people sharing a set of tools: they are communities whose members love to learn and to share their knowledge with others.

Unfortunately, however, women are currently under-represented in most makerspaces. As part of my PhD research I’m working with makerspaces who’ve bucked this trend and have been able to build a gender diverse group of members. The rationale is that if it’s possible to gain a better understanding of how they’ve achieved is, it may be possible to generalise these findings to support women’s engagement with technology in other contexts. Several months ago I contacted a makerspace in New York that I’d heard had a high proportion of women members. I sent them an email outlining my research and asking if I could visit them to find out how they support women’s engagement in their community. Two weeks later I got a reply: an invitation to be their first Researcher in Residence. There followed a huge amount of preparation to spend an extended period of time working in the US, navigating insurance forms, risk assessments, ESTA security authorisations, and Craigslist apartment listings. While  packing, I checked and double-checked my list of research equipment to take with me. Now, as I’m chauffeured through NYC traffic – sitting in the front seat of the Uber so I can see as much of the city as possible – I think: 'and now the real work begins'.

The next evening, while still not entirely adjusted to Eastern Standard Time, I turn up at the makerspace for my first site visit. I’ve been to many makerspaces over the years, and even used to be involved with running a makerspace in my hometown of Brighton, so I know roughly what to expect. The makerspace is cleaner and tidier than most, and is thankfully missing the resemblance to an e-waste disposal center that many makerspaces have. Members have covered the walls with LED art projects, posters from parties that have been thrown at the makerspace over the years, and stickers from other  makerspaces around the world. I’m given a tour and handed a set of keys. The makerspace – and the people in it – has a knack for helping you feel instantly at home in its cosy den of technology, which is probably a large part of why they’ve been able to engage a gender diverse group of members.

Over the next few weeks I split my time between conducting interviews and participant observation at the makerspace and exploring New York. I haul my laptop around coffee shops across Brooklyn and take advantage of the warm weather to make use of the free Wi-Fi in the city’s public parks. I spend thundery afternoons writing up field notes under the vaulted ceilings of the Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library. I reflect on the data I’m gathering and how it relates to my research questions: How are people interacting with each other in the makerspace? How are they using the tools and machinery? How is knowledge circulating within the makerspace? What knowledges are being recognised and respected?

A highlight of my trip is attending the World Maker Faire, a key event in the global maker community calendar. Held annually at the New York Hall of Science, it attracts nearly 100,000 visitors from around the world who come to see hundreds of makers exhibiting their coolest and most creative projects. There’s an overwhelming air of excitement throughout the Faire, which is attended by many kids and families. My favourite area is a dark room that houses the many lightbased projects on display, because if there’s one thing makers love it’s LEDs.

As I near the end of my residency the weather finally turns. The temperature drops and the trees in Central Park turn brown and orange. Porches are decorated with jack-o-lanterns and plastic skeletons for Halloween. I’m writing this in early November, just before I return to the UK. As well as providing me with a mountain of data to work through when I get home, this residency has opened up opportunities for research collaborations and has expanded my network of academic and practitioner contacts. Working with a research case outside of the UK has provided an opportunity to compare data across different national and cultural contexts. But most importantly, this residency has shown me that there are groups of makers out there who are passionately dedicated to improving equity in technology engagement. I am sure that there is a lot that can be learned from them.

Words/Photos - Em O'Sullivan

For more articles from our PhD students, read the full issue on our Alchemy page.