ILPC 2027

Science, engineering and technology (SET) is still suffering from low rates of female students and professionals. As a consequence much effort is put on the motivation and information of women to motivate them for a career in SET. Nevertheless as statistics indicate there is no sustainable change in the last years. Due to this the mere focus on how women have to change and to adapt according to the norm settings of science, engineering and technology seems to be short-sighted (see Wajcman 2000; Cockburn 2000). Being aware of this rather difference-oriented approach recent scholarly contributions are emphasizing the role of gendered structures and indirect exclusion mechanisms of technological institutions and their professional self-understandings (see Acker, 1992; Hanappi-Egger 2004; Hanappi-Egger/Warmuth 2010). But to investigate by which practices and “doing gender” processes hidden gender codes are established and how they function as barriers is clearly a methodological challenge.

This paper will present an innovative exploratory study conducted currently in an Austrian higher education institution committed to elaborate a gender-inclusive strategy. To make the indirect and hidden value systems visible mind-scripting was applied - a deconstructive and discourse-analytical method (see Allhutter/Hanappi-Egger 2006). Based on the assumption that there are hidden gender codes functioning as selection criteria and leading to organisational exclusion as well as to self-exclusion the members of a strategy group were asked to recall (anonymously) memories on “Last time when I discussed about the women’s quota”. These texts are used to identify collective constructions on professional self-understanding as well as organizational settings determining these self-concepts. It will be shown that there is on one side a persistent dual gender concept applied when it comes to attributions to women working in SET-areas. On the other side this duality is not questioned at all with respect to “being a male” working in SET areas – although evidently this refers to a rather hegemonic masculinity construction.

These texts will be used to identify the main hindrances of opening up a critical reflection on gendered structures and gender codes in the field of science, technology and engineering, or in general in organizations.