Abstract

"A Project that Emerged from Spite"

Allison Marsh, University of South Carolina (MARSHA@mailbox.sc.edu)

In 2023, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) celebrated its 140th anniversary, and the president at the time wanted a book to be written about the world’s largest technical professional organization. Several historians (including myself) balked at the project because of the timeline (he wanted it done in 3 months) and because of the arbitrariness of a 140th anniversary. A contract writer managed to deliver the project on time, albeit light on content, heavy on photographs. While leafing through the image-heavy book, I realized something odd, and went back to the beginning. I counted exactly 5 images of women in the entire thing. I vowed to write 150 Years of Women in the IEEE for the somewhat more reasonable 150th anniversary in 2033. What motivates an anniversary celebration of an organization? How does it look through a feminist lens? Electrical engineering has always been a male dominated profession, but its professional society has been traditionally run by women. How does that change our assumptions of gender dynamics?