Un/doing Gender with ICT?

What might new information and communication technologies (ICTs) at work do for gender? This question is explored here through an empirical study that traces the introduction of one ICT application-an electronic patient record (EPR)-into nursing and medical work in a University hospital in Norway. H...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NORA : Nordic journal of women's studies 2010-03, Vol.18 (1), p.20-37
Main Authors: Halford, Susan, Lotherington, Ann Therese, Dyb, Kari, Obstfelder, Aud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Butler, Judith
Classification
Electronic health records
Gender
Gender roles
Health Care Services
Hospitals
informasjonsteknologi (IT)
Information and communication technologies
Information Technology
kjønnsforskjeller
Medical personnel
Medicine
Norway
pasientjournaler
Performativity
Sex
Social change
Technology
Telecommunications
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Summary:What might new information and communication technologies (ICTs) at work do for gender? This question is explored here through an empirical study that traces the introduction of one ICT application-an electronic patient record (EPR)-into nursing and medical work in a University hospital in Norway. Health care work is well documented as a highly gendered field, where normalizing gender practices have dominated. The aim of this article is to explore emergent configurations of gender, ICT, and health care work following the introduction of the EPR. Drawing on Judith Butler's conceptualization of performativity, where gender is produced only as it is cited in everyday practice, we pay attention to both the normative and the disruptive moments of these configurations. In order to understand gender in modern health care we suggest an analysis of the performative co-constitution of gender, technology, and work as it is done on a daily basis at the hospital. We explore the gender effects of this co-constitution, also as gender norms are challenged and new ways of performing professional identities in health care are moved beyond the familiar categories of the past.
ISSN:0803-8740
1502-394X
DOI:10.1080/08038741003626791