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Dualisms, Hierarchies and Gender in Engineering
Wendy Faulkner
Science Studies Unit, Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 21 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LN, Scotland, UK; fax: +44 131 650 6886; w.faulkner{at}ed.ac.uk
There seems to be a general penchant for dichotomous styles of thought in engineering, in which hierarchies and gender are often evident - both symbolically and organizationally. This paper explores these themes, drawing in part on a pilot ethnographic study of software developers. The technical/social distinction is strongly gendered inasmuch as it maps on to masculine instrumentalism and feminine expressiveness. Also, the two sides of this dualism are seen as mutually exclusive such that `the technical', which defines the core of engineering expertise and identity, specifically excludes `the social'. Still, the related distinction between specialist and heterogeneous rôles becomes valued, and gendered, in contradictory ways. The abstract/concrete dualism is even more contradictory. The privileging of analytical abstraction in science and education sits sometimes uncomfortably alongside the obvious practical importance of, and pleasures in, a hands-on relationship with technological artefacts - conflicting versions of masculinity. Multiple tensions coexist around such dualisms, yet they endure. The concluding discussion considers possible factors related to the co-existence of certainty and uncertainty around technology, and to the performance of gender more generally.
Key Words: binaries • dichotomies • femininities • masculinities • software development
Social Studies of Science, Vol. 30, No. 5,
759-792 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/030631200030005005
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