WOMEN SCIENTISTS' INVOLVEMENT AT THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER INSTITUT TEKNOLOGI BANDUNG

• Main Author: Nurfajri Ramadhan, Rifki
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/84058
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Science is a very human-dependent field in reproducing their sciences and findings. Unfortunately, women are still not participating quantitatively at the same level with men. This phenomenon happens anywhere in the world and in every sub-field of science, like in informatics. Low participation of women in science may be caused by explicit discriminatory policies by institutions or laws which discourage women scientists employment. On the other hand, the low participation of women in science may also be caused by the lack of networks which is essential for any potential scientists who want to have a career in science. The lack of networks made by women scientists is not due to the inability of any woman scientist to form it, rather, it is caused by blatant unwillingness of their male colleagues to include women throughout their networks’ lives. Institut Teknologi Bandung is one of the leading institutes in Indonesia in producing discoveries and inventions. This is highlighted by, for example, their work with IBM machines in the 1970s. However, ITB still, unfortunately, exhibits the same phenomenon as the world of science in general. Interestingly, the researcher found a research center at Institut Teknologi Bandung which doesn’t only have many women scientists as their members but also headed by a woman scientist. This research center is squarely in the pursuit of artificial intelligence findings and projects, which falls under the informatics domain. This thesis aims to understand the lived-experiences of these women scientists, reflecting upon their experiences relatively to their whole lives, as well as, juxtaposing their experiences to their institutions standings. In answering these goals, the researcher utilizes Bourdieu’s concepts of Capital, Habitus and Field, as well as Actor-Network Theory. Reflection of the participants’ lived experiences relatively to their entire lives’ stories is done through the lens of Habitus. Whereas, the juxtaposition of the lived-experiences against the institutions’ standings is done through the Field perspective with the help of Actor-Network Theory. The researcher found that the women scientists have a different Habitus trajectories than their Field trajectories. The social class and the familial histories of the women scientists, manifesting through their Conditioning and Structured Habitus, do not reflect the Field trajectories which they eventually have. The researcher thinks that this was possible because of the self-concept that these women scientists have which do not include sex and class expectations which may limit their ability to conjure up an option, let alone choosing one. Hence, their self-concept perception has more of personality-driven attributes like one’s ambitions and capabilities compared to the societal ones. The researcher also found that once the women scientists were able to choose options outside of their Habitus trajectories, their Social Capital accruements have given them the access to fit properly within their new Fields. Hexis and Structuring Habitus play integral roles in increasing the gap between their Field trajectory and their Habitus trajectories. Moreover, the researcher also found that their sex has allowed them to settle, and head, the research center due to the lack of sought-after Capital in the research center, the Field. The lack of desirable Capital made their Field relatively stable and without internal or even external acts of struggle. Also, by understanding the research center’s history, the researcher also found how the Habitus of the research center, which is very voluntary-based, was made. As the research center was once an informal study group, the researcher finds that the unchanged Habitus between from when they were a study group to when they are now an institution, formalized by the university, is due to the unchanged Capital structure within the Field.