Harnessing the Link between ICT Domestication and Behaviour Change for Carbon Footprint Reduction in the Home

This is a research-in-progress paper, outlining the issues pertinent to a unique EU FP7 Project entitled Digital Environment Home Energy Management System, including Living Labs in the UK and Bulgaria, which seeks to engender pro-environmental behaviour change in home environments, initially through direct awareness raising, and eventually through user-defined automated processes, using ICTs, in the hope of ‘domesticating’ energy efficiency technologies within the home. The paper introduces the project to the IS community, and before detailing early results from the first Cycle of the project, seeks to contextualise the work that is being undertaken in the project in the theoretical backdrop of ICT domestication theory and notions of pro-environmental behaviour change. The theoretical backdrop is introduced, outlining the arguments behind why the project may succeed, followed by a more detailed outline of the research undertaken so far towards the establishment of the system

Gendered learning experience of engineering and technology students

UK National statistics for science, engineering and technology studies and careers confirm the under-representation of women in these disciplines. A literature review formed the basis for developing survey questionnaires exploring issues of female students' attraction to, and retention in, engineering and technology studies. Findings indicate that having family members in the engineering or technology industry plays an important part in the students' choice of degree topic and future career. In particular, we found that female students need to be encouraged to study a "male dominated" subject, such as engineering or technology but that teachers do not contribute much to such encouragement. While at university, female students were more comfortable in small practical sessions rather than in a large lecture theatre environment and, when evaluating self-confidence in their skills at graduation, the female students were less confident than their male colleagues. In addition, the study highlights that gaining work experience through an industrial placement should be one of the priorities for engineering and technology students. A high level of determination and wanting to do engineering or technology is especially necessary for women who may be discouraged by the stereotyped image of engineering and technology studies and professions