She has been recognized as an international expert in the fields of language, writing, communication and equality and serves as the Australian representative on many international academic journals. Spender approaches this area of women's education and technological knowledge through a very historical approach. She looks at other educational resources that women have historically been excluded from and studies the effects on the women of the times. The positions of power for women in the church were lost, removing not only an alternative to marriage, but also a center of women's learning. While male religious training lessened as well, there were other options open to men that were closed to women.
Spender goes on to discuss a gender gap between men and women in the world of computers.
She points out that computers were not always viewed as male-only territory, but once they were realized for more than just a word processor, they were snatched into men's domain. Spender connects this 'claim' on computers to the small numbers of women studying computer programming and the larger numbers of boys than girls who own computers. The games that are currently available are directed towards, designed by and enjoyed by males. Importantly, Spender points out that for many young girls, participating in the available games would entail a change in their value system, to become more receptive to what a man would be entertained by. Spender points out in the next section that the gender gap may be exacerbated by the very way that women and men view computers.