A conceptual framework for studying gender in information systems research

Abstract

Approaching the issue of Information Systems (IS) from an innovation perspective (Quintas, 1996), this paper seeks to enhance our understanding of IS process by introducing theoretical concepts and observations advanced in sociology and technology management disciplines under the heading of ‘Social Studies of Technology’ (SST).1 Specifically, the proposal of the paper is that a focus on gender within this approach will mean an increased awareness of organisational and social concerns of both the IS development process and the consequences of IS deployment into organisations. In so doing, I am assuming, in line with significant feminist research elsewhere, that gender relations involve difference, inequality and power. This is deemed pertinent to access to, and control over, material and symbolic resources (Knights and Willmott, 1986).