400 people came to KTH to talk equality and technology

The mood in F1 was electric when 400 participants gathered to hear TEDx-talks about equality and technology. The theme of TEDWomen 2018 was Showing up, and both speakers and guests delivered.

The norm and the other

“We arranged TEDxKTH Women as the finale of Project W”, said Lisa Ericsson, Head of KTH Innovation. The purpose of the project was to identify why so few women use KTH Innovation’s support, and two of the issues that stood out was the idea of who can be an entrepreneur, and how women can make demands of new technology to be developed for, and by, them. These issues became the theme of the TEDx talks.

Men showing up for women

The first section of the day discussed equality not as a women’s issue, but as something that concerns people of all genders. Eva Helen, EQ Inspiration, talked about how we can improve equality and advance women to leadership by inviting men into the conversation, and Anna Isoz from KTH Innovation discussed the norm in entrepreneurship and that it means for women. Shanga Aziz from Locker Room Talk unfortunately couldn’t make it in person, but was present via a Youtube film from another TEDx-talk, where he discussed masculinity and how to change the conversation between men. Out of 400 attendees, around 40 were men. Watch the video here (in Swedish).

“No one ever told me I should become an engineer”

Growing up, KTH student Catja Carlsson was the best in her class in math and physics, but was never told she should become an engineer. Instead, everyone told her that she should become a doctor or a teacher, despite the fact that she doesn’t particularly like the sight of blood, and in her own words, generally isn’t that popular with children. As a result, her road to KTH was far from straight. Catja delivered a burning message: a career as an engineer should be an obvious possible choice for everyone, both women and men.

Claiming the privilege not to adapt

The second section discussed women as consumers making demands on new technology. Vania Ceccato, Professor at KTH, talked about how architecture and urban planning can promote safety for women, and Pernilla Sustovic from Volvo Trucks, highlighted how the automotive industry is no longer only a “dirty job for strong men”.

Inequality that kills

Today, all cars are crash tested using dummies based on the average male body, which is taller, heavier and differently structured to the female body. The effects are tangible: women are twice as likely to suffer whiplash damage in a car crash, and are as a whole, have 71% increase in risk of injury compared to men.

Astrid Linder, Head of Research at VTI, has developed EvaRID, the world’s first crash test dummy developed from the average female body. Today, one such dummy exists in the world, despite the fact that data going back as far as the 60’s points out the heightened risk for women. It’s time to start making demands on both society and manufacturers, said Astrid.

Toilet inequality?

Towards the end of the event, the sewage system gave up and all toilets stopped working. This raised the question whether Alfvénsalen, which was finished in 1948, isn’t equipped with a sewage system made to accommodate toilet visits by 400 women. This will now be investigated by KTH.

Zero food-waste

The food was delivered by Foodloopz and Open Café, who have spent the last week scouring Stockholm for food to save. We were treated to coffee, cakes and muffins that would otherwise have been thrown away, sandwiches on discarded bread, and bottled water with the wrong date stamp, all of which tasted delicious. The last guests to leave got cheesecake goodie bags, and KTH Innovation now has enough bottled water to last for months.

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