#20454
Accepting Roles Created for Us: The Ethics of Reciprocity 
Grounded in theories of feminist research practices and in two empirical studies we conducted separately, our argument is that seeing reciprocity as a context-based process of definition and re-definition of the relationship between participants and researcher helps us understand how research projects can benefit participants in ways that they desire.
Powell, Katrina M. and Pamela Takayoshi. CCC (2003). Articles>Workplace>Ethnographies>Gender
#24528
"And Then She Said": Office Stories and What They Tell Us about Gender in the Workplace 
This article calls for a rhetorical perspective on the relationship of gender, communication,and power in the workplace. In doing so, the author uses narrative in two ways.First, narratives gathered in an ethnographic study of an actual workplace, a plasticsmanufacturer, are used as a primary source of data, and second, the findings of this studyare presented by telling the story of two women in this workplace. Arguing that genderin the workplace, like all social identities, is locally constructed through the micro practicesof everyday life, the author questions some of the prevailing assumptions about genderat work and cautions professional communication teachers, researchers, and practitionersagainst unintentionally perpetuating global, decontextualized assumptionsabout gender and language, and their relationship to the distribution and exercise of power at work.
Weiland Herrick, Jeanne. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Workplace>Gender
#26943
Men and women don't browse the Web the same way; one should design for both feminine and masculine webs.
Bowie, Jennifer L. Texas Tech University (2003). Presentations>Web Design>Information Design>Gender
#25987
Buxom Girls and Boys in Baseball Hats: Adolescent Avatars in Graphical Chat Spaces 
This paper explores the types of avatars adolescents use in graphical chat spaces and how gender is represented in these avatars. Content analysis found that adolescents predominately utilize publicly available avatars depicting drawn images of Caucasian human forms. Specifically it was found that females adopt postures that indicate subordination to others, while males display psychological withdrawal from the actions around them. The influence of gaming and fantasy is seen in male avatar selection.
Scheidt, Lois Ann. Indiana University (2004). Articles>User Interface>Collaboration>Gender
#36862
Chrysler's “Most Beautiful Engineer”: Lucille J. Pieti in the Pillory of Fame
The case of Lucille Pieti, a technical writer at Chrysler, serves as a discipline-specific illustration of some of Rossiter's (1995) generalizations about women scientists and engineers after World War II. Like other women with engineering degrees, Pieti emerged from college with high hopes, only to find herself consigned to one of the traditional ghettos for women scientists and engineers: technical communication. Her case is unusual, however, because she became a national celebrity.
Malone, Edward A. Technical Communication Quarterly (2010). Articles>History>TC>Gender
#31704
Increasing diversity in the workplace and general marketplace is making it increasingly difficult to communicate effectively - whether you're a medical communicator, a procedure writer, a freelance copywriter or a web content writer. This article looks at two main types of barriers to effective communications - global barriers and gender barriers - and then provides insight on the tools available that can help overcome these communication barriers.
Harris, Kerri. Writing Assistance (2006). Articles>Business Communication>International>Gender
#29026
Communication and Gender in Workplace 2000: Creating a Contextually-Based Integrated Paradigm
This conceptual article presents a critical review of gender-difference and gender-sameness theory and research. The focus is upon gender workplace communication, a topic often debated in the popular and organizational literature. A contextually-based integrated paradigm is proposed which represents a shift from a gender-difference foundation to a more integrated approach that includes the interaction of gender with Standpoint Theory, culture, organizational climate, and structure and task context. The network of shared meanings concept is introduced as having a major impact on gender communication orientation. Research using an example of communication to create a contextual meaning for social support is highlighted. Implications and conclusions for organizations, researchers, and educators are discussed.
Baker, Randolph T. and Lisa Zifcak. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Communication>Workplace>Gender
#26703
Communication and Women in Engineering
Women can be either encouraged or discouraged to take on the role of engineer through communication. Encouraging women to take on the role of engineer is imperative because of the lack of women currently in engineering.
Brown, Sarah. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Workplace>Engineering>Gender
#10807
How to be politically correct without mangling the English language. The goal is that the reader should not notice the writing.
Weber, Jean Hollis. Technical Editors Eyrie (1998). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Gender
#26945
The integration of technology into education includes increased educational Internet and web use. However the websites used in and for education are rarely critically examined, especially in regard to gender equality, design, and use. Print has been argued to carry with it certain attributes that disturb gender equality, so it is likely that electronic writing might cause similar problems.
Bowie, Jennifer L. Texas Tech University (2003). Presentations>Education>Web Design>Gender
#23596
An Emerging Electronic Rhetoric of the Body: Arguing the Feminine in Cyberspace
Some form of a body rhetoric has existed since classical times. If rhetoric can be loosely defined as a means of persuasion, then an electronic rhetoric of the body, for the purposes of this essay, can be defined as the ways in which the body is used to persuade, the ways it becomes the language of a culture for both genders. But what should we consider 'the electronic body' to consist of? The physical body? The mental body? And here is where the problem lies… But before an electronic rhetoric can be established, historical precedent must first be clarified.
Tulley, Ronald J. and Christine E. Tulley. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Online>Gender
#32359
An Empirical Investigation of Color Temperature and Gender Effects on Web Aesthetics
Limited research exists on the relevance of hedonic dimensions of human-computer interaction to usability, with only a small set of this research being empirical in nature. Furthermore, previous research has obtained mixed support for gender differences regarding perceptions of attractiveness and usability in Web site design. This empirical research addresses the above gap by studying the effects of color temperature and gender on perceptions of Web site aesthetics.
Coursaris, Constantinos K., Sarah J. Sweirenga and Ethan Watrall. Journal of Usability Studies (2008). Articles>Web Design>Aesthetics>Gender
#36663
What can we learn about women’s organizational challenges by talking to men about gender roles and work-life? We attend to this question through an interview study with male executives, providing a close interpretive analysis of their talk about employees, wives, children, the division of domestic labor, and work-life policy. The study illustrates how executives’ tacit hesitancy about women’s participation in organizational life is closely connected to preferred gendered relationships in the private sphere. The case reveals a story of meaning in movement—aversive sexism marked by flickers of transformation—demonstrating how talk can both reveal and disrupt enduring gender scripts, and why hearing male voices is integral to addressing women’s work-life dilemmas.
Tracy, Sarah J. and Kendra Dyanne Rivera. Management Communication Quarterly (2010). Careers>Management>Discrimination>Gender
#34837
Much of the theory guiding career development research is grounded in studies of men's careers in professional positions. In addition to largely ignoring the career experiences of women, the career literature pays little attention to overcoming barriers to career advancement in organizations—a challenge many women and men both face over the course of their career development. Using survey data, analyses of in-depth interviews, and a focus group discussion with female executives in the high-tech industry, this study finds variations of three responses: exit, voice, and rationalizing to remain are used by women in response to career barriers. These responses form the foundation of a career barrier sensemaking and response framework presented in the study. Findings indicate that perceived organizational sanctioning of career barriers and the organization's commitment to the career advancement of other women also influence participants' responses to barriers and their strategies for sensemaking, respectively.
Hamel, Stephanie A. JBC (2009). Careers>Business Communication>Collaboration>Gender
#33580
Feminist Theory and the Redefinition of Technical Communication
To study the possible impact of feminist theory on technical communication, this article discusses six common characteristics of feminist theory: (a) celebration of difference, (b) impact on social change, (c) acknowledgment of scholars' backgrounds and values, (d) inclusion of women's experience, (e) study of gaps and silences in traditional scholarship, and (f) new female sources of knowledge. Three debates within feminist theory spring out of these common characteristics: whether to stress similarity or difference between the sexes, whether differences come from biological or social forces, and whether feminist scholars can avoid reinforcing binary opposition. The article then traces the impact of these characteristics of feminist theory and debates within feminist theory on the redefinition of technical communication in terms of the myth of scientific objectivity, the new interest in ethnographic studies of workplace communication, and the recent focus on collaborative writing.
Lay, Mary M. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1991). Articles>TC>Cultural Theory>Gender
#24586
Feminist Theory in Technical Communication: Making Knowledge Claims Visible
This study extends the corpus of an earlier qualitative content analysis about women and feminism and identifies the knowledge claims and themes in the 20 articles that discuss gender differences. Knowledge claims are reflected in expressions such as androgyny; natural collaborators; hierarchical, dialogic, and asymmetrical modes; web; connected knowers; different voice; ethic of care; ethic of objectivity; continuous with others; connected to the world; the cultural divide; visual metaphor; and gender-free science. Built from knowledge claims, the themes in the 20 articles include gender differences in language use, learning, and knowledge construction; gender differences in collaboration; and reviews of research about gender differences and political calls for action. Although the 20 articles provide little support for the existence of gender differences, by introducing, discussing, testing, and revising new ideas about women and feminism, they serve as an example of the process of knowledge accumulation and remodeling in technical communication.
Smith, Elizabeth Overman 'Betsy' and Isabelle Thompson. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>TC>Theory>Gender
#30311
Fighting the Non-Sexist Language Battle
Sexist language consists of various words and terms that foster stereotypes of social roles based on gender. Professional writers must keep abreast of significant changes in our language, and the issue of sexism is an integral change. Sexist language has become offensive. Sexist language is confusing.
Bourns, Tracy. Boston Broadside (1991). Articles>Writing>Diction>Gender
#35720
Five Reasons Why Women Are Better Technical Writers Than Men?
Maybe I’ve been very lucky but I believe women are far better as technical writers than men. Here are five areas where I think they have the edge of the guys.
Walsh, Ivan. I Heart Tech Docs (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Gender
#36019
Gadget Problems Divide the Sexes
Men and women have different approaches to dealing with technology problems, according to a gadget helpline. The service found that 64% of its male callers and 24% of its female callers had not read the instruction manual before ringing up.
BBC (2009). Articles>Documentation>User Experience>Gender
#37792
Gender Disparities in the Design Field
Walk into any design classroom, at any college in America, and you’ll see a comfortable mix of male and female students. Turn your attention to the front of the classroom, or down the hall to the faculty and staff offices, and that wonderful gender balance starts to skew. Travel outside the campus, and there’s really no balance at all. But why? If there are design classrooms across the country with a 50/50 blend of men and women — and in many classrooms, there are more females than males — then why doesn’t the design field represent the same ratio?
Mindiola, John. Smashing (2010). Careers>Graphic Design>Education>Gender
#20472
One of the most significant changes taking place in English is the rejection of the way that 'man' was assumed to include 'woman'. Most of us want our writing to be friendly and inclusive. How can we avoid using 'man', 'he', and 'his'?
#13363
Gender-Neutral Technical Writing
Gender-neutral writing uses language that does not stereotype either sex nor appear to be referring to only one sex when that is not the writer's intention. In this article, you'll see why gender-neutral writing is important for technical writers to use, what gender-neutral writing is not, and how you can use gender-neutral writing in the documents you develop.
Weber, Jean Hollis. TECHWR-L (2002). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Gender
#22132
Gender-Neutral Technical Writing
In recurring discussions on the TECHWR-L list, many technical writers argue that they write in 'correct English' and are not going to change their style just to suit the political-correctness police. 'I won't use 'they' as a singular pronoun because it's not grammatically correct' and 'Using contrived phrases such as 's/he' is just too awkward' are arguments I've heard frequently in the debate. But using 'incorrect English' or contrived phrases is neither the goal nor the outcome of gender-neutral writing.
Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Gender
#18650
Gender-Neutral Technical Writing
Gender-neutral writing uses language that does not stereotype either sex nor appear to be referring to only one sex when that is not the writer's intention. In this article, you'll see why gender-neutral writing is important for technical writers to use, what gender-neutral writing is not, and how you can use gender-neutral writing in the documents you develop.
Weber, Jean Hollis. STC Northeast Ohio (2002). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Gender
#38454
Gender-Neutral Technical Writing
Gender-neutral writing uses language that does not stereotype either sex nor appear to be referring to only one sex when that is not the writer’s intention. In this article, you’ll see why gender-neutral writing is important for technical writers to use, what gender-neutral writing is not, and how you can use gender-neutral writing in the documents you develop.
Weber, Jean Hollis. TechWhirl.com (2012). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Gender
