Influence of ICT on Masculinities and Time Management

In this article we analyze the changes that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are introducing in organizations, in men\u27s work and in their personal and domestic sphere. We intend to see whether these changes consolidate or reaffirm hegemonic masculinity or whether the latter is being negotiated, diluted and transformed into other kinds of alternative masculinities. The article is based on the analysis of 25 semi-structured interviews of different profiles of men, and which are part of a wider study on use of time by men

Introducing eco-masculinities: How a masculine discursive subject approach to the individual differences theory of gender and IT impacts an environmental informatics project

In this paper I introduce the concept of eco-masculinities as a philosophical and critical project to understand the links between gendered and pro-environmental behaviour. The background of the feminist project, the sociology of masculinity, and the post-gendered world to which they both aspire, alongside a brief history of the project of ecofeminism, occupy the bulk of the paper. In the last section I briefly consider how these philosophical approaches might impact upon analysis of an EU Project entitled Digital Environment Home Energy Management System

Gender and the construction of identity within climate technology innovation in Kenya

This paper undertakes an analysis of the discursive construction of the entrepreneurial identity within media on climate technology(CT) innovation in Kenya. Using the STEPS pathways approach along side a post-structuralist feminist identity framework, it explores the way that the narrative of entrepreneur-led innovation may include or exclude the framings of particular actors. The paper draws on ideas of antagonism in identity construction, legitimacy, and access to resources, in order to identify those actors that may perceive themselves as, or be perceived as, more or less legitimate as CT entrepreneurs, thus being more or less likely to gain access to resources for CT innovation. Although the climate technology entrepreneur aligns in some ways with more normatively feminine notions of the caring social entrepreneur, overall the CT entrepreneur remains a masculine identity. Women are underrepresented in media portrayals of CT entrepreneurship.Further, portrayals of women CT entrepreneurs tend to question their legitimacy, depicting them as either requiring the support of men, or as taking up masculine characteristics in order to gain credibility. The paper demonstrates that this might translate into more favourable attitudes towards men CT entrepreneurs when seeking access to institutional support. It recommends further research into the capacity for CT entrepreneurship to effectively incorporate marginalised framings, and where entrepreneurship will fail to meet their needs, it calls for increased support for appropriate alternative processes of climate technology innovation

Gay men, Gaydar and the commodification of difference

Purpose To investigate ICT mediated inclusion and exclusion in terms of sexuality through a study of a commercial social networking website for gay men Design/methodology/approach The paper uses an approach based on technological inscription and the commodification of difference to study Gaydar, a commercial social networking site. Findings Through the activities, events and interactions offered by Gaydar, we identify a series of contrasting identity constructions and market segmentations which are constructed through the cyclic commodification of difference. These are fuelled by a particular series of meanings attached to gay male sexualities which serve to keep gay men positioned as a niche market. Research limitations/implications The research centres on the study of one, albeit widely used, website with a very specific set of purposes. The study offers a model for future research on sexuality and ICTs. Originality/value This study places sexuality centre stage in an ICT mediated environment and provides insights into the contemporary phenomenon of social networking. As a sexualized object, Gaydar presents a semiosis of politicized messages that question heteronormativity while simultaneously contributing to the definition of an increasingly globalized, commercialized and monolithic form of gay male sexuality defined against ICT

Men in School-Centred Initial Teacher Training: An Exploration of Issues and Experiences in One Primary SCITT

Poor retention of men is seen across all types of primary teacher training programmes in England. Previous research has largely focused on undergraduate and postgraduate university routes to teaching. This study concentrates on a small number of men in a one year school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) programme, a professional learning pathway to teaching which the government now actively promotes, to explore how these trainees experience the female-dominated environment of the primary school. The research framework uses theories of identity (Beauchamp and Thomas 2009), including gender (Skelton 2003), communities of practice (Wenger 1998) and social constructivism (Vygotsky 1978) to explore the challenges male primary trainees encounter as they negotiate who and what they are , professionally and personally, as a teacher and as a man, within the primary school. Findings include: performing stereotypical gender roles in school appears to enable the participation of male trainees; men can feel excluded in the all-female social space of the school staffroom; men feel unfairly scrutinised in safeguarding discussions and training; mentors report difficulties in supporting men who are mature career-changers. The research sits within a qualitative, interpretive paradigm and uses a case study approach; the male trainees on the SCITT programme constitute the case. The study uses mixed methods of data collection: semi-structured interviews with male trainees, documents profiling the characteristics of cohorts of men over five years, an all-male focus group discussion and mentor questionnaires. Although numbers are small, the study explores a problem which is replicated nationally and has persisted for generations, in the new context of SCITT. The data suggest that school-centred training, where men are required to assume a professional role quickly, offers little preparation or space for thought about gender and masculinities. The study concludes with suggestions for SCITTs to consider how they can support male trainees

In and out of the boys’ club – women’s narratives from the ICT industry

The purpose of this research is to build understanding of the reasons behind women’s low representation in the ICT industry. Conventional approaches have not been able to account for the persistence of the problem, and because of this, this study adopts a more critical perspective toward gender relations in ICT by drawing attention to the larger societal context of the phenomenon. The objective of the research is to explore how gender emerges in social interaction, processes and practices in the workplace, and how women give meaning to these experiences in narrative form. Following a feminist research orientation, I further problematize the societal context in which the women’s meaning-making takes place. This research is qualitative in nature and follows a social constructionist epistemology that understands reality to be formed through language in social interaction. Employing a narrative research methodology and wishing to give voice to women themselves, I produced the research data in semi-structured interviews with nine self-identified women who work in different positions in the ICT industry in Finland. In analyzing the women’s narratives, I examined especially their dialogic and performance elements, reading closely the research context and the interactive nature of the narratives’ production. After identifying prevalent themes in how the women discursively gave meaning to gender, I constructed the findings into one overarching narrative, “fitting in,” on three analytical levels: the self, the organization and the society. The findings of the study suggest that women’s experiences of gender relations in ICT are shaped by the masculinity of technology and the oppressive gendered structures of business organizations at large. The women’s generally positive experiences of the industry contained subtle, ambiguous and even contradictory meanings whose closer interrogation revealed gender to play a central role in whether the women felt competent, valued and fit for the workplace. ICT thus appears to be a place for such “doing” of gender that obscures and downplays the significance of gender, especially in potentially negative cases, while at the same reifying the traditional gender order that considers masculinity superior to femininity. Often the women also contributed to these oppressive notions of gender themselves regardless of the quality of their personal experience. The findings signal an internalization of the gender order and emphasize the need to make gendered structures visible in organizations

Strategies to address gender inequalities in Scottish schools: a review of the literature

This literature review forms the first part of a study of the strategies employed in Scottish schools to address gender inequalities in relation primarily to attainment. In undertaking this task, the intention is to build upon a number of previous investigations into the nature and causes of gender inequalities in schools. Some of these (Riddell, 1996; Osler et al, 2002; Lloyd, 2005) have considered gender and special educational needs; others have discussed gender at particular stages of schooling (Wilkinson et al, 1999; Croxford, 1999; Biggart, 2000); whilst a number of recent projects in the UK and in Scotland (Powney, 1996; Sukhnandan, 1999; Tinklin et al, 2001) have considered gender, attainment and/or achievement across the population and span of compulsory schooling. A recent nationally commissioned report (Younger, Warrington et al, 2005) has specifically investigated the issue of raising the attainment of boys. Together, these studies and others have established that there are gender inequalities both in the forms of participation in schooling and in its outcomes (albeit there is agreement that gender is not the only, nor even the main, source of inequality). Also available from this body of literature are analyses of causes of gender inequalities and debate about the strategies schools might adopt to address these inequalities. These strategies arise, in general, from understandings of the nature and causes of gender difference. There is, therefore, some contention here. A number of commentators argue that some of the strategies adopted by schools pathologise gender differences and hence reinforce particular forms of masculinity at the risk of suppressing, or marginalising, other forms, and at the expense of femininities. Evidence that there are gender inequalities in attainment in Scottish schools has been discussed in detail elsewhere. It will be reviewed briefly here and will be related to broader patterns of inequality, and in particular to social class. For this study, though, with its focus on school strategies, the debate about the causes of gendered outcomes is especially important and it will be treated in some depth and related to social class before the discussion moves on to consider the range of strategies employed in schools, as far as they are represented in the literature. The strategies to be considered encompass approaches to learning, teaching and assessment; aspects of classroom organisation; and school-wide issues such as staff development. All of these will be considered critically in the light of previous discussion of the causes of gender differences and their intersection by other, and arguably more influential, forms of identity

Researching cultures in science, engineering and technology: an analysis of current and past literature. Research Report Series for UKRC No.7

This report is a literature review of published research on the cultures of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) and the impact they have on women professionals employed in the sector. The report focuses primarily on the UK perspective, with reference to other Western countries where relevant

Masculinity with Disability in the Context of Employment and Unemployment Consequences: A Review of Theoretical Concepts and Research

The paper presents a review of concepts of masculinity with disability related to work, employment and unemployment problems. The authors evoke foreign and Polish research paying attention to a number of studies that have focused on the issue, exploring gender differences in the society [1]. Specifically, general definitions of masculinity within cultural contexts and masculinity with disability related to work domains are explored. The article also contains the issues connected with post-secondary education and vocational training, forms of support of employment of adults with disabilities as well as the effects of unemployment in case of males with disabilitie