Contexts of Equity: Thinking About Organizational and Technoscience Contexts for Gender Equity in Biotechnology and Nanotechnology

Abstract

One of the most visible inequities in scientific research and development is the small number of women involved. But while this has traditionally been the case, there are groups working to remedy this imbalance in the future. In this chapter, Laurel Smith-Doerr considers the probable place of women in nanotechnology research and production, viewing these developments through the lenses of feminist theories and past experience with biotechnology in the United States. She notes that very little is known so far about the participation of women in nanotechnology research or production, but its association with physical sciences and engineering suggests that participation rates will be lower, since women are better represented in the life sciences and biotechnology. In addition, the non-hierarchical organizational environments that characterized startup firms in biotechnology-environments where women thrived-appear less frequently in nanotechnology Smith-Doerr identifies a number of questions that are ripe for research during nanotechnology's formative stages, questions about how nanotechnology work serves the broader society interdisciplinarity, patenting, and authority relationships. Because so much is already known about organizational settings that foster female participation, studies of these topics in nanotechnology could lead to early female-friendly interventions by organizations and funding bodies.-eds.