2017性別與科技國際會議真的是一個很特別的經歷！

這個國際會議的舉辦非常地成功、完美！每個人都覺得受到溫暖的歡迎，而且可以專注於彼此間分享跟學習這些重要的議題。

科學與技術領域的性別議題，和性別化創新是非常複雜且細緻的。在不同國家，不同學術領域的社會結構脈絡下，女性和女科學家經歷因為性別而產生的挑戰；在同時，女性歧視及性別歧視是受文化定義的，不論是在工程或醫學學術領域的特殊文化下，或是國家和民族的文化下，而有各自的針對性。於是這會讓我們很容易誤解彼此，特別是在如這次會議這般的國際研討會上。

但在這次的會議中，這，並沒有發生；至少就我所理解的，這並沒有發生。我們彼此之間的爭論是非常清楚明確的，彼此所交換的問題是真摯誠懇的，我親眼看到，並親自經歷，真摯的互動如何跨越領域的邊界而建構，新的合作關係從這些交流中現身。

我親身的經歷，感受到在台灣使用的「女力」概念，和情意，人類心靈功能在認知和情緒之外的第三個面向，之間的共鳴；它們指向了人們的自我決心、意志、直覺和意念。這對我來說非常的有意思，而且我非常想要再深入理解這樣的諧振。

我也同時接觸了在台灣專注於女性與資通訊科技（ICT）的學者們，這在東亞是一個新興的研究和社會介入的領域，能夠親身看到並認識這領域在台灣的形成與發展，令人感到興奮。

我自己參與在10月29號的資通訊科技中的女性（Women in ICT）工作坊，就是希望能夠探索形成一個東亞研究網絡的可能性。我們得到非常豐碩的結果，特別是因為當時的討論是立基受惠於前面兩天研討會中的審議與思考。我自己、Debalina Dutta、Li Ying 和洪文玲，決定成立一個以亞洲地區為中心的研究網絡。

透過這個研討會，我認識了許多好朋友，特別是認識了很多台灣的研究同儕。我希望能夠表達我最深的謝意，這個研討會不只是有深入的學術價值，而且也是一個美妙而甜蜜的社交聯誼！♥


作者原文：
The conference was a wonderful event.
Because the organisation was so perfect, we were made to feel very welcome and could concentrate on sharing with one another and learning from one another.

Gender in Science and Technology and Gendered Innovations are complex and delicate issues.
Whilst women and women scientists experience challenges because of their gender, in every country and within the social organisational context of every discipline, women and gender discrimination are at the same time also very specific because they are culturally defined, whether this refers to the specific culture of an academic discipline such as engineering or medicine, or to an ethnographic or national culture. It is therefore easy to misunderstand one another at an international conference like this.

This did not happen, at least as far as I could tell. Our debates were robust. The questioning was frank. I saw and experienced how relationships developed across the various boundaries and how new collaborative ventures could emerge from these contacts.

In my particular case, I found conceptual resonance between the concept of Women Power as used in Taiwan and that of Conation, the third dimension of human mental functioning, next to Cognition and Affect, that point towards human self-determination, will, instinct and intentionality. This is interesting and I am keen to explore this resonance further.

I also made contact with scholars from Taiwan which focus on Women IN Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and whilst this is a new field of study and intervention in East Asia, it was wonderful to see, how much is actually done here in Taiwan.

The Women IN ICT workshop which we held on 29 October to explore the feasibility of a Research Network for East Asia, was also very fruitful, especially because it was grounded in and benefitted from the preceding two days of deliberation and contemplation. We, Wen-Ling Hong, Debalina Dutta, Li Ying and myself, decided as founding members of this network, that we wanted to extend the Network to the Asian region and include for instance India and possibly other countries.

I made good friends, especially with Taiwanese colleagues, and want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful hospitality shown to us by our hosts. Apart from the scientific value of the conference, it was also a wonderfully warm and sweet social event.