Bridging differences, finding similarities: For this year's Berlin Science Week, we invited gender and diversity experts from different backgrounds to the ECDF. They all highlighted the interplay between digitalization and diversity from their own positions. 

Algorithms in medicine – women in male domains

ECDF spokesperson and dental surgeon Prof. Tabea Flügge (Charité Universitätsmedizin – Berlin) kicked off the event and introduced the challenges women face in traditionally male-dominated professions. She questioned why certain topics remain taboo – such as the assumption that presence, which was more likely for men during the Corona pandemic due to less care work, is a guarantee of quality. In her own work, Tabea Flügge also deals with how artificial intelligence must be developed and trained to be truly neutral and comprehensive: “To do that, it is of course important to have complete and comprehensive data with which the AI is trained,” says Flügge, who uses AI, among other things, to develop an application that can detect mouth cancer. 

Raul Krauthausen – Inclusion in the digital age

Raul Aguayo-Krauthausen, an activist for inclusion and accessibility, sees the danger above all in the fact that digitalization is seen as the answer to inclusion. Many digital solutions have been sold as inclusive during the pandemic, but are often just a convenient alternative to physical accessibility: “Instead of building elevators, disabled people are then told, ‘Well, you can participate digitally’. But this does not address the ongoing underrepresentation of people with disabilities. According to Krauthausen, digitalization is fundamentally a value-free technology that can both enable participation and contribute to isolation if it merely confines people to their own four walls. In addition to the personal limitations for people with disabilities, however, this also represents a major loss for society as a whole: “We underestimate the innovative power of people with disabilities, women and people with migration experience,” he emphasized. 

Mareike Lisker – subtle discouragement

Mareike Lisker, a computer scientist, philosopher and research associate at HTW Berlin, reported on her experiences as a woman in IT. When choosing her course of study, she repeatedly encountered – sometimes well-intentioned – subtle discouragement: “Are you sure this is for you? Wouldn't you rather do something social?” are just two examples the doctoral student mentioned. These implicit assumptions are, of course, also found in developed technologies and reinforce discrimination. For her, it is clear that the working atmosphere and environment in IT professions must change so that more women stay in the field. The appeal “More women in IT” is not enough for her. 

Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou– On hierarchies and the paradigm of ableism

Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou, architect and anthropologist, founder of L'Africaine d'Architecture and Woelabs Togo, summarized the similarities between the panelists in his contribution: Every form of discrimination has a common basis, a common value system in which people are judged by their productivity. People who are less productive in the understanding of this system are marginalized. The activist explained the logic of this system using an example: “A man who cuts down a tree is recognized for his ‘value’ to society, while a woman who plants a seed is often overlooked. However, the man's achievement cannot take place without her contribution,” he explained. For him, it is clear that digitalization as we currently use it does not serve people, but rather contributes to exclusion. 

The event took place as part of Berlin Science Week. The international science festival takes place every year between November 1 and 10. ECDF professor Michelle Christensen moderated the evening.