Why Do They Do That? Men's Behavior Through The Lens of Gender

The research into men in tech is less developed than the research into women in tech, because their experience is assumed to be "normal." However, understanding the way the dudes we work with interact with gendered expectations can be as useful as understanding how we do. While keeping in mind that men are as heterogeneous as women, this workshop will demonstrate how to apply the techniques of gender studies to common patterns of behavior. From geekier-than-thou contests to posting sexist garbage on Hacker's News, understanding the incentives men face can help us craft our responses. I will demonstrate the process involved so that participants will be able to apply the tools of gender studies to situations in the future.

Beth Andres-Beck is a full-stack software engineer at TripAdvisor, working in Java, JavaScript, HTML5, and Objective-C. Ms. Andres-Beck is a member of the team responsible for TripAdvisor's RESTful API as well as hybrid apps for mobile and tablet platforms. Her undergraduate degree from Smith College included work on Gender and Performance Studies, which she has found particularly useful when applied to user experience design or the social dynamics of our field.