Research Hosts’ Proposals

Abstract: Consider current issues like bias as how AI application clasiffy human faces images, or how WhatsApp users were concerned about privacy when Facebook acquire it. Privacy, gender, security are just some examples of human factors that are „implemented” in applications.

Several artefacts from requirements to source code carry information related to human values. We want to concentrate such values that are related to gender and diversity.

The purpose of this research activity is to carry on a systematic literature survey (SLR) to identify and classify which are these human factors and how they have been studied in literature.

Contact: Assoc.Prof.PhD. Simona Motogna, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
simona.motogna@ubbcluj.ro

Host: Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Applicant: The ideal candidate will be PhD student, postdoc with an interest in empirical studies, especially in SLR. The candidate is expected to invetigate several collection of publications (ACM digital library, IEEE library) and to produce a SLR containing relevant contribution to Human Values in Software, with a focus on issues related to diversity and gender.

When: 1-2 weeks in Spring semester, anytime between March to June 2022

Resources provided by host: access to ACM digital library, IEEE library

Expected outputs: SLR report on Gender/diversity values in software

Expected contribution of the visit to ‘Gender balance in Informatics’: The produced report is intended to be further developed in a paper at a major conference to raise awareness about good/bad practices related to gender/diversity in SE

Abstract: The continuous adoption and evolution of technology in all aspects and areas of our lives and our environment entails new and complex challenges and asks for interdisciplinary perspective to avoid biases that affect sustainable development. In today’s digital, automated, and globally connected society, digitalization and other technology trends are changing how Information Technology (IT) is conceived, developed, and used. The new development that technology implies and its use by an increasing part of the world population demonstrate that it must be driven by and for all people in society (across gender, culture, nationality, and other kinds of discrimination). However, all over the world, women and other discriminated minorities are underrepresented in technology research, practice, and education. Although the challenge is evident, progress has been invariably slow and addressed from isolated perspectives.
For all these reasons, this research aims to address the interplay of gender perspective regarding technology, in order to design, develop, implement, evaluate, and/or improve new and innovative tools, methods, practices, and/or processes for addressing and achieving social sustainability in and by IT, through a joint work and close collaboration between different stakeholders at the NTNU.

Contact: Letizia Jaccheri letizia.jaccheri@ntnu.no; J David Paton jose.d.p.romero@ntnu.no

Host: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway

Applicant: PhD student or Postdoc or Senior researcher

When: To be agreed with the host.

Resources provided by host: “Software for a Better Society”; TDT10 – Gender and Diversity in Software Development

Expected outputs: Scientific Papers; Lectures

Expected contribution of the visit to ‘Gender balance in Informatics’: This research will establish a basis for next generations of socially friendly technologies and development processes. It will have a significant impact on the advance of technology regarding social sustainability and, especially, gender equality and inclusiveness. In addition, this program will build and disseminate knowledge on empirically and scientifically evaluated approaches through top international journals and conferences across the fields of knowledge of computer science and sustainability, attracting international researchers and professionals, as well as international research projects which will give EUGAIN greater access to international knowledge production.

Abstract: We are aware that creativity thrives on diversity and this consideration is even more crucial in Human Computer Interaction when looking at the design of usable, useful and used systems, but how can we measure the impact of neglecting diversity on the overall User Experience?

We propose to start from existing literature and studies reporting how male centred design (where designers as well as testers and evaluators are mostly male) results in tools with poor usability and disappointing User Experience (UX). Therefore, we want to elaborate further which of  the UX defying dimensions and of the factors contributing to usability better convey the importance of diversity, and whether we need to introduce new criteria and measure to account for gender related differences. We expect to deliver an enriched evaluation framework for assessing the performance of technology and the kind of experience it offers to different users while keeping discussion open in the HCI community and beyond.

Contact: Monica Landoni monica.landoni@usi.ch

Host: Faculty of Informatics, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Switzerland

Applicant: PhD student or Postdoc or Senior researcher

When: Possibly one month in spring-summer 2022.

Resources provided by host: Available case studies, stories and literature

Expected outputs: Based on existing literature, available case studies and work done on our premises, we will produce evaluation framework to account for diversity and gender. This will lead naturally to a joint publication.

Expected contribution of the visit to ‘Gender balance in Informatics’: We will devise an evaluation methodology that will account for gender issues in the UX so that we can recognise gender-considerate design for all.

Abstract: Numerous instances of gender stereotyping in the classroom are reported in the literature. Teachers frequently have no idea how biased they are toward boys and girls, yet this has a negative effect on females’ attitudes toward learning and considering a future in informatics. The goal of this inquiry is to create a tool that will assist teachers in identifying prejudices that are present in their instruction as the first step in getting rid of them.

We want to create a simple tool to assist primary school students in expressing their perceptions about gender stereotypes in the classroom, drawing on the literature and studies that are already available. It must be versatile and flexible in order for other EUGAIN network users around the world to use it. The purpose of this mission is to create a tool and a process for its administration that will allow various EUGAIN members to collect user data and demonstrate the presence of gender stereotypes in the classroom in order to make teachers and parents reflect on their actions and possibly become more conscious of the effects of their narratives on how girls feel about informatics.

Contact: Monica Landoni monica.landoni@usi.ch

Host: Faculty of Informatics, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Switzerland

Applicant: PhD student or Postdoc or Senior researcher

When: Possibly two weeks in spring-summer 2023.

Resources provided by host: Access to available literature and office space.

Expected outputs: Based on existing literature and work done on our premises, we will design and when appropriate adapt existing tools to collect evidence of the perception of gender stereotypes in the classroom. This will lead naturally to a joint publication.

Expected contribution of the visit to ‘Gender balance in Informatics’: We will devise a tool and a procedure for its administration in a number of primary schools across the EUGAIN consortium. This way we will collect user data to assess, measure and possible compare the presence of gender stereotypes.

Abstract: The aim of this research is to collect from literature and other sources, like websites, newspapers, etc. examples of biases in AI-systems. The collected examples will be, then, analysed and organised in a catalogue. The catalogue would be an important contribution for the community to benchmark AI systems or to test them against known corner cases.

The proposal is intrinsically situated  in gender issues, ethics and social aspects in ML and AI.

Contact: Patrizio Pelliccione patrizio.pelliccione@gssi.it

Host: Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), Italy

Applicant: PhD student or Postdoc

When: Flexible

Resources provided by host: Available case studies, stories and literature

Expected outputs: Catalogue of biases. The ambition is to publish the results in a good conference or journal.

Expected contribution of the visit to ‘Gender balance in Informatics’: The proposal aims at collecting biases that contribute to creating unbalance. Highlighting these unbalances would help to remove them and provide evidence of the problem.

Abstract: Gender, and in general diversity related issues represent current to-do/ongoing items addressed or to be addressed in the next future both in industry and in academia. Even if they are considered as immediate objective, their achievement is a complex process which should be considered over time in order to become sustainable.

This proposal aims to identify the feminine expertise, e.g., traits, skills associated with a feminine role that contribute to activities in software architecture, e.g., communication with stakeholders, understanding requirements and reflecting them in the software architecture solutions. For this investigation we plan to involve various experts working in main IT companies in The Netherlands.

Contact: Claudia Raibulet c.raibulet@vu.nl

Host: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Applicant: PhD student or Postdoc or Senior

When: To be agreed with the host.

Resources provided by host: Access to scientific publications and contacts with main IT companies. The project is a replication of the study published as: Razavian, M., & Lago, P. (2015/7). Feminine Expertise in Architecting teams. IEEE Software, 33(4), 64–71.

Expected outputs: The expected output is represented by scientific publications aiming to create awareness on the current trends concerning feminine expertise in architecting IT solutions in industry. At the same time, we aim to identify the meaningful feminine traits and skills from the perspective of expert domains. The identified outputs concerning feminine expertise in architecting IT solutions will be made available to companies and academics who teach to next generation software architects.

Expected contribution of the visit to ‘Gender balance in Informatics’: By identifying and assessing the feminine expertise in architecting IT-solutions, we create awareness of gender related issues in this domain. The results may be further used by companies to get advantages of the gender diversity and to increase the number of women in their teams, as well as by academics to teach to next generation students about the feminine expertise and its advantages.