These slides are from a talk I gave in September 2010 for 'Cardiff Girl Geek Dinners' in which we discussed the gendered norms, stereotypes and social systems that coexist within professions such as digital design; and in wider society around digital knowledge, learning and use. Key message: Digital design - knowledge, learning and use is highly gendered. To alter it, we have to change the gendered frameworks within which it is embedded - the norms, stereotypes and social systems.

1. 10/31/10
1
1© Kelly Page 1(cc) Kelly Page
Dr. Kelly Page
Lecturer in Digital Media Marketing
Cardiff Business School
T: @drkellypage
T: @caseinsights
FB: kelly@caseinsights.com
LinkedIn: Dr. Kelly Page
Presentation for:
23rd September 2010
The Gendering of Digital
Media Knowledge
Is it really all about Sex?
2© Kelly Page
Who would you describe if I asked you to
describe a typical:
Web Designer?
Games Designer?
Systems Architect?
Database Developer?

2. 10/31/10
2
3© Kelly Page
What do you think of when I say the word:
Gender?
4© Kelly Page
What do you think of when I say the word:
Sex?

3. 10/31/10
3
5© Kelly Page
Biological Gender
[Sex]
6© Kelly Page
Social Gender
Biological
Gender
[Sex]
Gender
Norms
Gender
Stereotypes
Gender
Identity
Social
Institutions

4. 10/31/10
4
7© Kelly Page
Gender Norms What is appropriate ‘normal’
behaviour for a man and a women?
8© Kelly Page
Gender Stereotypes
Hypotheses about sex differences which influence
our expectations of men and women and our
evaluation of their work, qualities and abilities!

5. 10/31/10
5
9© Kelly Page
Gender Identity
An individuals notion of
her/himself. His/her
personal identity.
Influenced by gender
norms and stereotypes!
10© Kelly Page
Social Institutions are Gendered
Educational System. Media.
Families. Labour Market.
Workplace.

6. 10/31/10
6
11© Kelly Page
However …
12© Kelly Page
Not only is digital media complex
(not just complicated)
So too is the gendering of the people that
use and design in digital media and the
social context within which this occurs.

7. 10/31/10
7
13© Kelly Page
 Web sample recruited
(n=2077)
 Significant difference
 No WSD/M experience
exhibiting:
• Lower mean scores for
actual web knowledge
[memory]
• Lower perceived web
knowledge
[confidence]
• Lower perceived web
usability
[complicated/useful]
• Lower current web
usage
[access]
1: Knowledge & Social Context
”Life in your years not years in your life!”
14© Kelly Page
2: Know, Social Context & Sex
”Effect of Digital Media Knowledge on Perceptions
of Digital Media is influenced more by being Female
in Digital Design than Male.”

8. 10/31/10
8
15© Kelly Page
3. Perceptions. Sex. Gender
”Perceptions of Digital Media DO NOT SIG. DIFFER
Between Users of Differing Biological Gender [sex]”
 Sample recruited (n=191)
 No Significant difference
 Males/Female on
Perceptions Ease/Use
 Males/Females on
Masculinity
 Males/Females on
Neutral
 Significant Difference
 Males/Females on
Femininity (Females more)
16© Kelly Page
3. Perceptions. Sex. Gender
”Perceptions of Digital Media DO SIG. DIFFER
According to a Users Gendered Identity”
 Masculinity
 Ease of Use – Overall; Learning Ease
 Usefulness – Overall; Purchase; Communication
 Femininity
 Ease of Use – Overall; Purchase; Communication;
Information Search
 Usefulness – Purchase; Information Search

9. 10/31/10
9
17© Kelly Page
In summary …
 The differences in knowledge, perception and use of
digital media is not JUST about
 Being a man or a women …
 It is more deeply about:
 How we are socialised to see, think, be
and interact as a man or a women in
digital use, learning and design …
 How we participate in this …
 And how we each evolve …
18© Kelly Page
Challenging the gendered
frameworks in digital design!
“To challenge continuing gender - norms, stereotypes, and
identities - in digital design we need to firstly challenge the
frameworks within which we each think about & debate
them” (Adapted from: Jude Browne, 2007)
Framework 1:
My biological gender as a female or male
is a simplified view of what I was born, excluding the complex
nature of who I am, how I behave, how I see myself and how I
respond to the world within which I coexist.
- I’m a digital designer -

10. 10/31/10
10
19© Kelly Page
Woman to Man:
“You Make the Tea!”
Man to Woman:
“Ok. You Start the
Digital Revolution!”
20© Kelly Page 2020
CONNECT
T: @drkellypage
T: @caseinsights
FB: kelly@caseinsights.com
LinkedIn: Dr. Kelly Page
(cc) Kelly Page

11. 10/31/10
11
21© Kelly Page 21
Sources
 Page, K. and Uncle, M. 2004. Consumer web knowledge of the world wide web: Conceptualization and
measurement. Psychology & Marketing 21(8), pp. 575-593.
 Page-Thomas, K. 2006. Measuring task-specific perceptions of the world wide web. Behavior & Information
technology 25(6), pp. 469-477.
 Page, K. L., Robson, M., Uncles, M. D. (In-review 2010). The Social Context of Consumer Web Knowledge and
Web Usability, Unpublished Manuscript in Review: Psychology & Marketing, (In review).
 Page, K., Kasemsri Na Ayudhya, T., and Smith, J. (Ongoing) The Gendering of Digital Media Perceptions,
Work-in-Progress - Unpublished Manuscript.
 Browne, J., (2007) The Future of Gender, Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
 Lippa, R. A., (2002) Gender, Nature and Nurture, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London.
 Akman, I and Mishra, A. 2010. Gender, age and income differences in internet usage among employees in
organizations. Computers in Human Behaviours 26(3), pp. 482-490.
 Ozkan, T. and Lajunen, T. 2005. Masculinity, Femininity, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory in Turkey. Sex Roles
52(1), pp. 103-109.
22© Kelly Page 22
The content of this presentation is the property of shared interest
between the author, Kelly Page and other parties who have contributed
and/or provided support for the generation of the content detailed within.
These contributing parties include, but are not limited to: Cardiff
University (CU); University of New South Wales (UNSW); Cranfield
University; Oxford University Press (OUP); Prentice Hall Publishing, and
other commercial sponsors and research partners.
Kelly Page (cc) 2010