Choosing IT is also choosing to care

By carmen lacave (Titular Professor of ESI at UCLM).

In these days in which the majority of 2nd year high school students from all over Spain are deciding which university studies to enroll in, it is essential to try to banish some stereotypes that contribute to perpetuating the gender gap in technological areas. And it is that, according to the report on Gender Segregation in University Studies, recently prepared by the Ministry of Universities [1], women do not reach 20% in engineering, reducing this percentage to 14% in the case of computer science studies. At the other extreme are early childhood education studies, in which women represent 96% of the students, or nursing studies, where they reach 82%. The causes of these differences are diverse, but there seems to be a consensus that women prefer to dedicate themselves to the field of care.

Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness about how technology and care are closely related to promote the incorporation of women in technological areas and thus build more inclusive societies, as proposed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. [2]. And the university, as an engine for generating knowledge and transferring it to society, is committed to applying technology to the world of health and care.

Without going any further, the research groups of the Escuela Superior de Informática de Ciudad Real are working on the development of various projects related to the application of technology to health and to improving people's quality of life. Among them stands out the one dedicated to the improvement of the quality of life of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, led by the CHICO group [3] of the UCLM, within the framework of the APTEA project (ref TED2021-131956B-I00) and the collaboration agreement with AUTRADE [4] (ref. 220413CONV).

ASD is defined as a chronic neurodevelopmental dysfunction, which manifests itself from an early age and generates a great impact on the person who suffers from it and on their family. Although it is a disorder that presents great variability in its manifestations, in general, ASD people are characterized by their rigid thinking or their tendency to carry out activities that are constantly repeated, so that unexpected changes or attendance at certain unusual environments It causes them a lot of anxiety. An example of this is visiting the doctor or going shopping at the supermarket, which can become a very stressful situation, both for them and their families, due to hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli that can be found in the healthcare environment. , such as physical contact, noise, lighting, communication with people, etc. Therefore, it is important to anticipate what is going to happen so that the ASD person can understand the situation and know what is expected of them.

In this sense, technology provides many advantages, because it makes it possible to provide visual and personalized information based on the communication needs of each person, their sensory difficulties and their preferences and interests; In addition to being able to offer highly predictable environments.

Thus, in recent years we have been dedicating them to working on the development, evaluation and transfer to society of different technological solutions that facilitate the performance of daily tasks for people with ASD, and their families, depending on their needs, with the aim of objective of improving the quality of life of both groups.

One of the first fruits of our work has been the development of the software prototype PlantEA, which makes it possible to plan and anticipate visits to the doctor for children with ASD and facilitates communication with specialists [1]. The formal evaluation of the accessibility and usability of this prototype, both by experts and by potential real users [2], has yielded very promising results and has obtained very positive evaluations. In addition, it has made it possible to address various improvements, in order to optimize its functionality and adaptability to the needs of users and thus be able to guarantee an optimal user experience.

This is just one of the many examples in which universities and technology companies are betting on putting care at the center of our development. And it is obvious that women, who make up more than half of the world's population, must be part of this process to generate inclusive and sustainable systems.

So girls, cheer up, computing needs you.

[1] Hernandez, P.; Molina, A.I.; Lacave, C.; Rusu, C.; Toledano-González, A. PlanTEA: Supporting Planning and Anticipation for Children with ASD Attending Medical Appointments. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5237. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12105237

[2] Valencia, K. (2023), User Experience Evaluation for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Doctoral Thesis, Miguel Hernández University of Elche.

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[1] Universities set the goal of reversing segregation by gender stereotypes in university studies

[2] Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 – Agenda 2030

[3] Computer Human Interaction and Collaboration – CHICO Research Group (uclm.es)

[4] Autrade – Regional Association of People Affected by Autism and Other Developmental Disorders

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