Is Computer Science Made for Dudes? w/ Felienne Hermans

Felienne Hermans calls herself an ‘involuntary ethnographer of computer science’. She studies the culture behind programming, and challenges the dominant idea that learning to program has to be painful. Alix and Felienne chat about the history of programming and how it went from multidisciplinary and inclusive, to masochistic and exclusive. They also dig into all the ways it excludes women and people who do not speak English.Further reading & resources:Scratch — a high level programming language aimed at kidsHedy — the programming language that Felienne designedJoin in and help out with Hedy!GenderMag by Margaret Burnett — how to ensure more gender inclusiveness in your softwareElm — an easy and kind browser-based programming languageA Case for Feminism in Programming Language Design by Felienne Hermans & Ari SchlesingerA Framework for the Localization of Programming Languages by Felienne Hermans & Alaaeddin SwidanSubscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!Felienne is the creator of the Hedy programming language, a gradual and multi-lingual programming language designed for teaching. She is the author of “The Programmer’s Brain“, a book that helps programmers understand how their brain works and how to use it more effectively. In 2021, Felienne was awarded the Dutch Prize for ICT research. She also has a weekly column on BNR, a Dutch radio station.