Janet Abbate(born June 3, 1962) is anassociate professorofscience, technology, and societyatVirginia Tech.Her research focuses on the history ofcomputer scienceand theInternet,particularly on the participation ofwomen in the field.[1][2]Janet Abbate is also the author of Inventing the Internet (MIT Press,1999), Standards Policy for Information Infrastructure (MIT Press, 1995), and Recoding Gender Women’s Changing Participation in Computing (MIT Press, 2012). Janet Abbate also attendedThe University of Pennsylvaniafor herPh.D.
Academic career
editAbbate received her bachelor's degree fromRadcliffe Collegeand her master's degree from theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[1]She also received her Ph.D. from the in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994.[2]From 1996 to 1998, she was apostdoctoral fellowwith theIEEEHistory Center, where she conducted research on women in computing.[3]She joined the faculty of Virginia Tech's Northern Capital Region campus in 2004[4]and is now an associate professor and the co-director of the graduate program inScience, Technology, and Society.[1]Janet Abbate earned a BA fromHarvard University,a MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to her academic work, Abbate was acomputer programmerherself. Her background in computer programming has influenced her research approach and has been cited as relevant in reviews of her work.[5][6]
Research
editIn 1995, Abbate co-editedStandards Policy for Information Infrastructurewith Brian Kahin.[7]Some of her main areas of research focus include: Gender in Science and Technology, History of Computing the Internet, and Labor Issues in Science and Technology.
Abbate is the author of two books:Inventing the Internet(2000)[8]andRecoding Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing(2012).[9]Inventing the Internetwas widely reviewed as an important work in thehistory of computingand networking, particularly in highlighting the role of social dynamics and of non-American participation in early networking development.[5][10]The book was also praised for its use of archival resources to tell the history.[11]Though some have criticized the work, citing Abbate's computer programming background as causing issues in presenting a non-technical narrative.[6]She has since written about the need for historians to be aware of the perspectives they take in writing about the history of the Internet and explored the implications of defining the Internet in terms of "technology, use and local experience" rather than through the lens of the spread of technologies from the United States.[12]
Recoding Genderalso received positive reviews, especially for its incorporation of interviews with women in the field and for providing a historical overview of how women and gender have shaped computer programming.[13][14]However, the book has also been criticized for being disjointed—that the link of "women in computing" is not strong enough to hold the different chapters together.[13]The book received the 2014Computer History Museumprize.[15]
Janet Abbate is currently researching historical emergence of computer science as an intellectual discipline.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abc"Janet Abbate".liberalarts.vt.edu.Retrieved2021-04-16.
- ^abAbbate, Janet."Personal website".Archived fromthe originalon 28 March 2017.Retrieved22 August2015.
- ^"Oral History: Women in Computing".Retrieved22 August2015.
- ^"Janet Abbate explores history of female computer programmers; offers perspective on gender imbalances and future strategies".Virginia Tech News.2013-02-12.Retrieved2015-08-23.
- ^abTrinkle, Dennis A. (2000)."Inventing the Internet (Janet Abbate)".Journal of the Association for History and Computing.3(3).
- ^abMcKim, Joel (2001)."Review: Inventing the Internet by Janet Abbate".Canadian Journal of Communication.26(1).doi:10.22230/cjc.2001v26n1a1202.
- ^Kahin, Brian; Abbate, Janet (1995).Standards Policy for Information Infrastructure.MIT Press.ISBN978-0-262-11206-2.
- ^Abbate, Janet (2000).Inventing the Internet(1st MIT pbk. ed., 2000. ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts [u.a.]: MIT Press.ISBN978-0262511155.
- ^Abbate, Janet (2012).Recoding gender: women's changing participation in computing.Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.ISBN978-0262018067.
- ^Alger, Jeff (1999)."Book Reviews: Inventing the Internet".Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship(24).doi:10.5062/F4222RR4.
- ^"General Communication".Communication Booknotes Quarterly.31(1): 55–59. 2000-03-01.doi:10.1207/S15326896CBQ3101_11.ISSN1094-8007.S2CID218576599.
- ^Abbate, Janet (2017)."What and where is the Internet? (Re)defining Internet histories".Internet Histories.1(1–2): 8–14.doi:10.1080/24701475.2017.1305836.ISSN2470-1475.S2CID64975758.
- ^abHatton, Erin (2014-09-01)."Recoding Gender: Women's Changing Participation in Computing".Contemporary Sociology.43(5): 650–651.doi:10.1177/0094306114545742.ISSN0094-3061.S2CID143777255.
- ^Colatrella, Carol (2013)."Review of 'Recoding Gender: Women's Changing Participation in Computing' by Janet Abbate".International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology.5(1).
- ^"2014 Computer History Museum Prize | SIGCIS".sigcis.org.Retrieved2021-04-16.