141
Critical Research on Gender and Information
Systems
Eileen M. Trauth
The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Debra Howcroft
University of Manchester, UK
INTRODUCTION
In 1991 Orlikowski and Baroudi published a seminal
paper about the role of epistemological lenses in
shaping information systems (IS) research. Citing
Chua’s (1986) classification of research episte-
mologies they went on to describe the way in which
each of three lenses—positivist, interpretive, and
critical—influences the conduct of IS research.
They concluded with the observation that whereas
positivism dominated the IS research landscape,
interpretive research was beginning to make an
appearance. They also noted the dearth of critical IS
research. Throughout the 1990s a few papers on
critical research appeared. Myers’ (1997) paper on
critical ethnography helped to bridge the under-
standing gap between interpretive and critical re-
search. Ngwenyama and Lee (1997) used the criti-
cal lens to guide their approach to examining infor-
mation richness theory. Doolin (1998) argued that a
research approach based on critical theory is needed
in order to view information technology within a
broader context of social and political relations.
However, in the 2000s there has been a significant
increase in the focus on critical research, as evi-
denced in an increasing number of publications,
conference streams, special issues, and academic
electronic networks concerned with discussing criti-
cal IS1.
It can be argued that the social nature of activi-
ties associated with the development, implementa-
tion, and use of IS and the management of people
who carry out these activities leads naturally to
considerations of social and political power. This
consideration of power, in turn, encourages critical
analysis. In the social sciences the term critical is
used to describe a range of related approaches,
Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc., distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI is prohibited.
+
including critical theory (Horkheimer, 1976), critical
operational research (Mingers, 1992), critical eth-
nography (Forester, 1992), and critical management
studies (Alvesson & Willmott, 1996). Despite some
areas of commonality, critical researchers draw
upon a broad range of social theories. These include,
for example, the Frankfurt School of critical social
theory (Horkheimer, 1976), actor-network theory
(Latour, 1991), Marxism (Marx, 1974), feminist
theory (Wajcman, 1991), and the work of Bordieu
(1990), Dooyeweerd (1973), Foucault (1979), and
Heidegger (1953).
BACKGROUND
It can be further argued that the topic of gender and
IS is particularly suitable for critical research insofar
as it is concerned with power relations and
underrepresented voices in the context of gender
and information technology use (Kvasny & Trauth,
2002). The choice of a critical rather than a positivist
or an interpretive epistemology for research on
gender and IS, however, has definite implications for
both the perspective on the topic and the way it is
researched (Howcroft & Trauth, 2004).
When the positivist epistemology is applied to the
topic of gender and IT, the objective is typically to
discover whether and where there are gender dif-
ferences. The aim is to uncover gender distinctions,
not to explain or theorize why these distinctions have
arisen and continue to exist. Examples of this include
investigations of women’s vs. men’s use (adoption,
acceptance, etc.) of IT (e.g., Gefen & Straub, 1997)
and women’s participation rate in the IS profession
(e.g., Carayon, Hoonakker, Marchand, & Schwarz,
2003; Truman & Baroudi, 1994). Further, the theory
 Critical Research on Gender and Information Systems
underlying positivist gender research is often essen-
tialist whereby observed gender differences are
understood to arise from the dichotomizing of male/
female roles that, in turn, are assumed to generally
derive from bio-psychological differences (Wajcman,
1991).
Much of this research is predicated on negative
assumptions about women (such as assumptions
that women are inherently less technologically com-
petent than men) and is not typically informed by the
gender literature (Adam, Howcroft, & Richardson,
2004). This type of research is typically motivated by
a desire to advance managerial objectives. For
example, it might be to consider gender as a factor
of production in better harnessing diversity in pursuit
of effectiveness and productivity (e.g., Gallivan,
2003; Igbaria & Baroudi, 1995; Igbaria &
Chidambaram, 1997; Venkatesh & Morris, 2000).
Problems of inequality are viewed in terms of wasted
resources, with increased equality being promoted
as a means of optimizing efficiency. The main
drawback of this research approach is that the
investigation remains on the surface of observable
and documentable differences. In so doing, it offers
an unproblematic treatment of the topic in which the
observation of differential treatment in the work-
place by gender has a tendency to become the
explanation (i.e., that men and women are treated
differently in the IT workplace because they are
different with respect to their relationship to IT and
IT work in some relevant, essential way). Further,
by offering only managerialist perspectives, positiv-
ist gender and IS research privileges one perspec-
tive over others. Hence, the gendered aspects of IT
use, for example, are not considered from the per-
spective of those experiencing it.
In contrast, interpretive studies of gender and IS
focus on developing a better understanding of how
these gender differences in IT use and IT work have
come about. The objective is to add context to the
observations about gender and IT. This research
invokes such theories as social construction (e.g.,
Nielsen, von Hellens, Greenhill, & Pringle, 1998;
Tapia, 2003) or individual differences (Trauth, 2002;
Trauth, Quesenberry, & Morgan, 2004) in develop-
ing theoretical explanations that incorporate social
influences underlying inequality (e.g., observable
differences) between the genders. The point of view
of this research is not just managerialist; the motiva-
142
tion is also to advance our understanding of the
relationship between gender and IT by understand-
ing the point of view of the women IT users. Thus,
an interpretive examination of gender and the IS
profession might explore the influence of national
culture on the social construction of gender identity
as it relates to the IT workforce (Trauth, 1995;
Trauth, Nielsen, & von Hellens, 2003; Trauth,
Quesenberry, & Yeo, 2005). However, a limitation
of the interpretive approach is that the focus is on
understanding the societal influences, not ques-
tioning them. It is directed at coping with the
dynamics of inequality, not challenging the legiti-
macy of underlying social influences or undoing
them.
MAIN THRUST OF THE ARTICLE
In response, the objective of critical gender and IS
research is to investigate why gender inequality
exists. The motivation is to understand and challenge
power relations that reproduce inequality (Kvasny,
in press). Critical social theory, postmodernism, and
feminist theory (Adam 2002; Adam & Richardson,
2001; Kvasny, Greenhill, & Trauth, 2005), for ex-
ample, are used to inform the search for the under-
lying causes of gender inequality. Thus, a critical
perspective on gender and IT might concentrate on
the gendered nature of the workplace and techno-
logical skills (Wilson, 2002). This moves the re-
search away from positivist and interpretive themes
of profitability, efficiency, effectiveness, and gender
identity, and towards themes of control, resistance,
and inequality.
Critical researchers also embrace the social and
political influences on their research, rather than
negate these assumptions and beliefs. They aim to
balance their interest in the people being studied with
an awareness of less explicit ideological and struc-
tural forces. This is in contrast to what Bhaskar
(1979) has described as the “linguistic fallacy,” the
claim adopted by many interpretivists that subjects,
concepts, meanings, and accounts of their actions
cannot be criticized. In critical research the spotlight
shifts from an exclusive focus on individuals, situa-
tions, and local meaning to the systems of relations,
which make such meanings possible. This is not to
suggest that experiences are ignored; rather they
Critical Research on Gender and Information Systems
are balanced against issues of an ideological nature
that may frame the experiences and ascribe addi-
tional meaning.
The use of critical IS research to study the topic
of gender and IS enables new explanations and
theories to become available. It addresses positivist
limitations by offering alternatives to managerialist
perspectives and theories. It addresses interpretive
limitations by considering power relations, marginal-
ity, and dominant discourses in the organizational and
societal context. The use of critical theories enables
the researcher to shed theoretical light on the subtle
ways in which gender inequality is operationalized in
technological disciplines in the academy and the
workforce.
CONCLUSION
While the use of a critical epistemology for research
on gender and IS would seem to flow naturally from
the nature of the topic, there is surprisingly little
critical gender and IS literature, with some notable
exceptions.2 This situation suggests a fertile area for
future research. In making the choice of a critical
epistemology, however, it is important to recognize
the methodological implications of doing so. First,
while there is little critical gender and IS literature,
there is even less empirical critical gender and IS
research literature. This dearth of empirical research
means that there are few examples in the literature
upon which researchers can currently model their
work. Second, whereas positivist research endeav-
ors to remove bias from the research account, both
interpretive and critical research acknowledge the
inherent bias in all research. But because of the
agenda of highlighting the power dynamics at work in
organizations, critical research is typically more vul-
nerable to political issues when attempts are made to
publish such work. The diffusion of critical research
in IS is being enhanced by critical IS books, critical IS
conferences, and special issues of journals on critical
IS, which provide new outlets for the dissemination of
critical IS research. It is hoped that at least some of
this emergent research will address the topic of
gender and IT.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
+
This article is from a study funded by a National
Science Foundation Grant (EIA-0204246).
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KEY TERMS
+
Actor-Network Theory (ANT): Developed by
Michel Callon and Bruno Latour, ANT is a social
theory that explains the interrelated connections
between human and nonhuman actors. At the core
of this theory is the understanding that technology
and society are mutually constitutive.
Critical Research: Research that critiques the
status quo through the exposure of what are believed
to be deep-seated, structural contradictions within
social systems, thereby transforming these alienat-
ing and restrictive social conditions (Orlikowski &
Baroudi, 1991, p. 5-6).
Feminism: A social, political, economic and
intellectual movement that is concerned with remov-
ing the subordination of women. With regard to
research, feminism searches for ways in which
women’s positions in life can be made equal with
those of men (Adam, 2002).
Feminist Theory: According to Wajcman
(1991), there is no single “feminist theory” but rather
a diversity of perspectives including: cultural femi-
nism, eco-feminism, liberal feminism, postmodernism,
radical feminism and social feminism. This body of
theories argues that inquiry should be based on the
“lived sociopolitical experiences of women” be-
cause their perspectives afford an alternative view
of social relations to that of mainstream empirical
epistemologies (Schwandt, 2001, p. 93).
Interpretive Research: Research directed at
understanding the deeper structure of a phenom-
enon within its cultural context by exploring the
subjective and intersubjective meanings that people
create as they interact with the world around them
(Orlikowski & Baroudi, 1991, p. 5).
Positivist Research: Research that assumes
the existence of a priori fixed relationships within
phenomena which are typically investigated with
structured instruments. The purpose of this research
is primarily to test theory (Orlikowski & Baroudi,
1991, p. 5).
Postmodernism: An intellectual movement that
rejects modernist principles and practices. It argues,
instead, that there is no single truth or reality. Since
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 Critical Research on Gender and Information Systems

multiple versions of truth or reality exist, it argues for
pluralist principles and practices (Webster, 2002,
Chap. 9).
ENDNOTE
1
An example of books is Howcroft and Trauth
(2005). Examples of special issues of journals
devoted to critical research include Data Base
(2001/2002), Journal of Information Tech-
nology (2002), and Information Systems Jour-
nal and Information Technology & People
(forthcoming). Examples of conferences with
a critical IS stream include the Critical Man-
agement Studies conference (1999, 2003, 2005),
Critical Research in IS Workshops (2001, 2004),
and a critical stream at the Americas Confer-
ence on IS since 2001.

146