Resistance and Adaptation: Gender in Scientific Collaboration within STEM Fields
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48160/18517072re57.336Keywords:
University-Industry Collaboration Process, STEM Fields, Work Group, Tactics of Femininity, Saying and Doing of GenderAbstract
Through a longitudinal study of research collaboration between universities and industry in STEM fields in Argentina, we shed light on how the discourse and practice of gender are intra-actively co-constituted in everyday interactions. We explore how the patriarchal gender order, driven by male co-directors, significantly impacts scientific collaboration, revealing critical organizational challenges. We observe resistance among younger scientists toward the presence of a female scientist in a higher-ranking role, leading to practices of marginalization and selective support. This results in a recurring pattern of non-compliance with assigned tasks, where responsibilities are minimized, and a gender hierarchy is perpetuated.
We also highlight how female scientists adjust their behavior, employing various “tactics” to emphasize their femininity in order to gain recognition and collaboration. Finally, we underscore both the influence of gender practices on group dynamics and the key role of co-directors in fostering certain gender representations with which they feel more comfortable. This analysis aims to enhance the understanding of diversity, inclusion, and femininity in scientific work environments, challenging entrenched gender norms in the contexts of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI).
References
Acker, J. (2006), “Inequality Regimes”, Gender & Society, 20, (4), pp. 441-464. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243206289499
Adamson, M., Kelan, E., Lewis, P., Śliwa, M., y Rumens, N. (2021), “Introduction: Critically interrogating inclusion in organizations”, Organization, 28, (2), pp. 211-227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508420973307
Barad, K. (2007), “Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning”, Durham, Duke University Press.
Berdahl, J. L., Cooper, M., Glick, P., Livingston, R. W., y Williams, J. C. (2018), “Work as a Masculinity Contest”, Journal of Social Issues, 74, (3), pp. 422-448. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12289
Butler, J. (2006), Deshacer el género, Barcelona, Paidós.
Butler, J. (2017), El género en disputa: El feminismo y la subversión de la identidad, Bogotá, Paidós.
Connell, R. (2015), “Meeting at the edge of fear: Theory on a world scale”, Feminist Theory, 16, (1), pp. 49-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700114562531
Connell, R. W., y Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005), “Hegemonic masculinity rethinking the concept”, Gender and Society, 19, (6), pp. 829-859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639
D’Onofrio, M. G., y Tignino, M. V. (2023), Diagnóstico sobre la situación de las mujeres en ciencia y tecnología, Buenos Aires, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología (MECCYT).
Diehl, A. B., Stephenson, A. L., Dzubinski, L. M., y Wang, D. C. (2020), “Measuring the invisible: Development and multi‐industry validation of the Gender Bias Scale for Women Leaders”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, 31, (3), pp. 249-280. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21389
Femenías, M. L. (2009), “Género y feminismo en América Latina”, Debate Feminista, 40, pp. 42-74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42625114
Femenías, M. L. (2014), Violencias cotidianas (en la vida de las mujeres), Buenos Aires, Prohistoria ediciones.
Fox Keller, E. (1987), “The Gender/Science System: Is Sex To Gender As Nature Is To Science?”, Hypatia, 2, (3), pp. 37-49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1987.tb01340.x
Haraway, D. J. (1995), Ciencia, cyborgs y mujeres: la reinvención de la naturaleza, Valencia, Universitat de València.
Hultin, M. (2003), “Some Take the Glass Escalator, Some Hit the Glass Ceiling?”, Work and Occupations, 30, (1), pp. 30-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888402239326
Humbert, A. L., Guenther, E. A., y Müller, J. (2021), “Not Simply ‘Counting Heads’: A Gender Diversity Index for the Team Level”, Social Indicators Research, 157, (2), pp. 689-707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02635-5
Janssens, M., y Steyaert, C. (2019), “A Practice-Based Theory of Diversity: Respecifying (In)Equality in Organizations”, Academy of Management Review, 44, (3), pp. 518-537. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0062
Janssens, M., y Zanoni, P. (2021), “Making Diversity Research Matter for Social Change: New Conversations Beyond the Firm”, Organization Theory, 2, (2), 263178772110046. https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877211004603
Kelan, E. K. (2018), “Men Doing and Undoing Gender at Work: A Review and Research Agenda”, International Journal of Management Reviews, 20, (2), pp. 544-558. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12146
Mannix, E. A., y Sauer, S. J. (2006, “Status and Power in Organizational Group Research: Acknowledging the Pervasiveness of Hierarchy”, en Thye, S.R. y Lawler, E.J. (eds.), Advances in group processes, Leeds, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 149-182. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1016/S0882-6145(06)23006-6/full/html
Martin, P. Y. (2003), “Said and Done” Versus “Saying and Doing”, Gender & Society, 17, (3), pp. 342-366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243203017003002
Martin, P. Y. (2006), “Practicing Gender at Work: Further Thoughts on Reflexivity”, Gender, Work and Organization, 13, (3), pp. 254-276. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2006.00307.x
Mattsson, T. (2015), “‘Good girls’: emphasized femininity as cloning culture in academia”, Gender and Education, 27, (6), pp. 685-699. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2015.1069796
Mavin, S., y Grandy, G. (2012), “Doing gender well and differently in management”, Gender in Management: An International Journal, 27, (4), pp. 218-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/17542411211244768
McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., y Blackstone, A. (2012), “Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power”, American Sociological Review, 77, (4), pp. 625-647. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412451728
Messerschmidt, J. W. (2009), “Doing Gender”, Gender & Society, 23, (1), pp. 85-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243208326253
Nicolini, D. (2012), Practice theory, work, and organization: An introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Noticias Institucionales CONICET, (2023), Ciencia y género: Reflexiones sobre cómo enriquecer la investigación científica. https://www.conicet.gov.ar/ciencia-y-genero-reflexiones-sobre-como-enriquecer-la-investigacion-cientifica/
Rial, M., Azcurra, K., y Ferpozzi, H. (2021), “La participación de mujeres en los organismos públicos de ciencia y tecnología en la Argentina: los mecanismos de evaluación en la Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA) y en el Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA)”, Arbor, 197, (801), a619. https://doi.org/10.3989/arbor.2021.801009
Ridgeway, C. L., Korn, R. M., y Williams, J. C. (2022), “Documenting the Routine Burden of Devalued Difference in the Professional Workplace”, Gender & Society, 36, (5), pp. 627-651. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432221111168
Samra-Fredericks, D. (2005), “Strategic Practice, ‘Discourse’ and the Everyday Interactional Constitution of ‘Power Effects’”, Organization, 12, (6), pp. 803-841. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508405057472
Smith-Doerr, L., Alegria, S. N., y Sacco, T. (2017), “How Diversity Matters in the US Science and Engineering Workforce: A Critical Review Considering Integration in Teams, Fields, and Organizational Contexts”, Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, 3, (139). https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2017.142
Smith, L. (1999), Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, Londres, Bloomsbury Publishing.
Srivastava, P., y Hopwood, N. (2009). A Practical Iterative Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8, (1), pp. 76-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800107
Stainback, K., Ratliff, T. N., y Roscigno, V. J. (2011), “The Context of Workplace Sex Discrimination: Sex Composition, Workplace Culture and Relative Power”, Social Forces, 89, (4), pp. 1165-1188. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/89.4.1165
Szenkman, P., y Lotitto, E. (2020), Mujeres en STEM: cómo romper con el círculo vicioso, Buenos Aires, CIPPEC. https://www.cippec.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/224-DPP-PS-Mujeres-en-STEM-Szenkman-y-Lotitto-noviembre-2020-1.pdf
Uggen, C., Powers, R. A., McLaughlin, H., y Blackstone, A. (2021), “Toward a Criminology of Sexual Harassment”, Annual Review of Criminology, 4, (1), pp. 33-51. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-011419-041436
UNESCO. (2019), Descifrar el código: la educación de las niñas y las mujeres en ciencias, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas (STEM), Paris, Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura.
Zanoni, P., y Miszczyński, M. (2023), “Post-Diversity, Precarious Work for All: Unmaking borders to govern labor in the Amazon warehouse”. Organization Studies, 45, (7). https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406231191336
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Redes. Journal of Social Studies of Science and TechnologyThe documents published here are governed by the licensing criteria
Creative Commons Argentina.Atribución - No Comercial - Sin Obra Derivada 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
