I have started my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Copenhagen in 2020 (finish date January 2024). Going “back to school” after many years working has been an intense but rewarding journey - you can read more about my work so far in the Publications section!

I use ethnographic methods to explore barriers to gender equity and accessibility - with a special focus on neurodiversity - in computer science higher education organizations. I look at digital and physical spaces, formal and informal, and organizational practices and artefacts to investigate socio-technical challenges and opportunities. As part of my PhD I collaborated on multiple interventions, and co-created some open access, norm-critical artefacts, such as DOREEN and the BATL tool.

My PhD project is supervised by Professor Pernille Bjørn as part of the FEMTECH project and it is situated at the Human Centered Computing section.

With my colleagues from the University of Southern Denmark, I co-created an open-access resource and workshop to prepare university teachers for unanticipated interactions in and outside the classroom – such as sexist, racist or transphobic behaviour, to name a few.

This reflective tool uses real-life vignettes based on our own and colleagues’ experiences in teaching scientific topics, and it is meant to be used to stimulate discussion in small groups.
Our small team included two academic developers, a gender equality consultant and a computer science researcher. We were brought together via two special interest groups operating across Danish universities: Bias Aware Teaching and Learning (BATL) and Teaching and Learning in the International Classroom, hosted by the Danish Network for Educational Development in Higher Education.

Find out more and find links to the tool here!

DOREEN is a norm-critical story-telling game of provocations to discuss and challenge barriers to gender inclusion in computing. Anybody can make their own with the help of a lasercutter and a 3D printer (Instructable here), or you can simply print out the statements and the adventure cards on paper!

We collected quotes from everyday women in computing and embedded these within the mechanics of role-playing storytelling games. DOREEN is a playful way of exploring how gender roles, assumptions about computing, and social dynamics shape the experience of students – to reflect on the past with the aim of changing the future. DOREEN makes intertextual referencing to The Unbeatable SQUIRREL Girl aka Doreen Green, a computer science college student and a Marvel superhero who finds unorthodox ways (using wit and humor) to overcome barriers.

DOREEN is centered around an octahedron die and an adventure sheet inspired by tabletop role-playing gaming, emphasizing story-telling as a strategy for challenging norms and creating alternative narratives. The die design invites the players to reflect on how the probability of encountering limiting narratives and structural barriers can be higher or lower for different social groups. Finally, DOREEN is designed as the embodiment of all the people whose experiences, agency, and perspectives should be included in the journey of broadening participation in computing. (artwork by Felicia Regine Nørregård).

Make your own DOREEN dice: https://www.instructables.com/Conversation-Oktahedron/

The DOREEN artefact, adventure sheet, and game are made with contributions from:

Jenny-Margrethe Vej, Valeria Borsotti, Valkyrie Arline Savage, Morten Engell-Nørregård, Felicia Regine Nørregård, Kasper Lorentzen, and Pernille Bjørn

Adventure_sheet_v04_colour-1Download
DOREEN-game-rulesDownload

For about one year I have conducted a qualitative research study investigating some of the causes to gender inequity in computer science education at the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU).

The exploratory case study contributes to the growing research on the gender gap in computer science education. The goal is to empirically investigate the main socio-cultural barriers to the participation of women in the bachelor of Software Development at ITU, and generate insights to inform concrete and effective interventions.

Empirical evidence has been collected through semi-structured interviews with 38 students (undergraduate and high school) and surveys with 395 students (undergraduate and high school). Research findings from the study have subsequently informed the design of local interventions that have led to the recruitment of double the percentage of women in the bachelor of Software Development at ITU in one year, from 11% in 2016 to 22% 2017. You can read more about it here.

I have initiated a small series of e-textiles workshops where high school students learn the basics of coding while designing and programming wearables. The purpose is to broaden access to software literacy by combining crafts and digital.

Guided by skilled design students at ITU, the high schoolers explore the Internet of Things, interaction design and simple coding using Lilypad Arduino. The human body becomes the starting point for this exploration, and cutting fabric and sewing LEDs guarantee a lot of fun for everybody involved.

To read more about it check out this brief article here.

Net Children Go Mobile investigates access and use, risks and opportunities of mobile internet in the European context. NCGM is a EU project funded by the Safer Internet Programme, and it includes researchers from Denmark, Italy, Romania and the UK.

As a research assistant for Net Children Go Mobile I have contributed to the qualitative research efforts of the Danish team at the IT University of Copenhagen, conducting and coding interviews.

Give&Take is a collaborative project funded under the EU's AAL programme. Give&Take seeks to co-design an innovative ICT platform that will enable seniors citizens to reciprocally exchange skills and services. 

As a research assistant for the Give&Take project I have worked with the user research team in Denmark, leading the fieldwork activities and partaking in the documentation process. 

The Give&Take project has been a wonderful opportunity for me to understand how social engagement can be used to empower senior citizens, and how participatory research methods can inform innovative design solutions.

Machine Enchantée was the winner of the UMIX Information Architecture Hackathon 2014 in Lyon, France, where participants were challenged to redesign physical and digital libraries within the span of 48 hours.

My team developed an idea for children interaction inspired by the concept of serendipity. We wish to encourage kids between the age of 3-7 to discover new books and games in a playful and engaging way, while transforming the physical environment of the library into a landscape of discovery.

Books and games are tagged with a friendly classification system generated together with a group of children based on their interests in topics and books. A simple game on a touch screen table invites kids to choose among symbols representing the different tags. They then follow a wandering LED path which splits into different routes through the library, leading them to book selections based on their tag choices. Which one to follow?

Books and games are not stored on shelves but in special boxes that light up at the end of each new path. Each box is filled with books based on the tagging system. The Machine Enchantée supports up to 4 users, with different wandering paths lighting up and leading children to a new and exciting world of books.

The project has also been presented at the World IA Day in Lyon in February 2015.

Project members:Yannis Adelbost, Mathilde Bulete-Herbaut,Valeria Borsotti, Tommaso Elli, Andrea Rovescalli, Fabian Ramirez, Inma Salcedo.

From the summer of 2014 until the spring 2015 I have carried out a baseline study with Afrika Kontakt's Fishery workgroup.

We have conducted a qualitative assessment of the African member organizations of the WFFP (World Forum of Fisher Peoples) in order to generate information on the current level of awareness, knowledge and practices of the network.

The WFFP aims to protect the livelihoods of fisher people, uphold fishing rights, pursue social justice and sustain fisheries and aquatic resources.

http://worldfishers.org/

Creative Minds CPH is a cultural association based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We connect young creatives from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and support participatory projects targeting youths and their families. We have a strong focus on creative multimedia activities. 

I am a board member for the association together with other four awesome women. Together with Yusra I am in charge of the Creativity and Innovation committee. 

Read more about our projects and get in touch by visiting our blog:

http://creativemindscph.wordpress.com/

How do we further social change and how can we build grassroots movements in countries that face serious safety challenges? What type of technologies do activists use to reach communities in remote areas of Africa?

This two-days workshop, co-developed in collaboration with three activists from Afrika Kontakt, mapped out the main challenges in processes of movement building and mobilization in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara, Uganda, Swaziland and Mozambique, and it outlined a series of best practices (or good practices) to face those challenges. The workshop was held in Cape Town, South Africa, during the annual Afrika Kontakt partner seminar in 2014.

In 2013-14 I have been part of the Afrika Kontakt work group focusing on South Somalia (2013) and Somaliland (2014). We conducted preliminary research on active citizen participation and gender equality in the rural areas around Mogadishu as well as stakeholder analysis and outreach in order to find potential work partners among local civil society organizations.

In 2014 we focused on Somaliland, mapping local stakeholders and connecting with them in order to co-design a project promoting youth empowerment and gender equality in Hargeisa. As part of the project I have organized a movie event in Copenhagen (Huset Biograf, April 2013) in order to raise money for the project and awareness about the current social context in Somalia.

During my master in anthropology I conducted an ethnographic fieldwork in San Francisco and Mexico (Yucatan). 

My goal was to understand how communities are built and sustained in a multicultural society. I focused on active citizen participation, forms of ethnic belonging and the use of crafts, arts and performance in strengthening ways of belogning.  

I documented the vibrant Mexican Maya community in the Bay Area using a mixed method approach (participant observation, photography, interviews, archival research). 

During my fieldwork I collaborated with two wonderful local associations: Asociacion Mayab (Asociacion Maya-Yucateca del Area de la Bahia) in San Francisco and Chan Kahal Comunidad Yucateca in San Rafael.

For the past few years I have been keeping a blog, posting (not so regularly) about books, crafts and my life in Copenhagen. I started to sew and knit again after moving to Denmark, where I bought a sewing machine, and then a second one. My collection of knitting needles is out of control, and so is the list of things I want to try to make.

Besides serving as a notebook and a way to be in touch with my family around the world, the blog has been a great way to meet new people and start new adventures. Check it out here.