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Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering

ISSN for PRINT: 1072-8325

Institutional price:	$211.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2005, Volume11

120 pages

DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v11.i1

Issue price - $42.00

GENDER WRIT SMALL: GENDER ENACTMENTS AND GENDERED NARRATIVES ABOUT LAB ORGANIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSMISSION IN A BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH SETTING

Kareen Ror Malone
Department of Psychology, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 30118

Nancy J. Nersessian
Georgia Institute of Technology

Wendy Newstetter
Georgia Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT

This article presents qualitative data and offers some innovative theoretical approaches to frame the analysis of gender in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings. It begins with a theoretical discussion of a discursive approach to gender that captures how gender is lived "on the ground." The authors argue for a less individualistic approach to gender. Data for this research project was gathered from intensive interviews with lab members and ethnographic observations in a biomedical engineering lab. Data analysis relied on a mixed methodology involving qualitative approaches and dialogues with findings from other research traditions. Three themes are highlighted: lab dynamics in relation to issues of critical mass, the division of labor, and knowledge transmission. The data illustrate how gender is created in interactions and is inflected through forms of social organization.