Gendering innovation process in an industrial plant – revisiting tokenism, gender and innovation

Abstract

Purpose -This article provides an analysis of the gendering process in product innovation. Interwoven into this process is the encapsulation of a token position. The article expands and deepens the tokenism theory through a discussion of gender in the innovation process. The article draws from recent and classical theories of gender, ranging from gendering approaches to Acker's theory of gendered organisations and processes within organisations, and Moss Kanter's tokenism theory. The main objective of the article is to address this gap in the tokenicsm discussion and introduce a new concept of "processual tokenism". Design/methodology/approach -The article builds on an intensive single case study and uses a narrative methodology and approach in the analysis of the data of the case in question. The primary data used in the narratives consist of interview data. The article also uses documents and reports as secondary data in the narrative construction. The approach used is theoretical, interpretative and qualitative. Findings -The article provides a detailed narrative of the intertwined nature of the gender position in an organisation and the invention process. One of the outcomes is that the gendering of a product is triggered by tokenism, and that gendering of a product can be interpreted also as a deliberate and successful process. The article contributes to the tokenism theorizing.Research limitations/implications -The limitations of the article may relate to the specificity of the innovation process in chemical industry that are different to other industrial fields. Practical implications -The article does not have direct practical implications. Originality/value -The article contributes to the theory of tokenism by providing an updated and extended version of tokenism and naming it as "processual tokenism". Furthermore, the article contributes to the debates on gendered organisations by focusing on gendering through tokenism and the persistence of male dominance. Finally, the article contributes to gender theories by introducing the idea and analysing of how the gendering of a product innovation takes place.

Doing and undoing gender in innovation: Femininities and masculinities in innovation processes

“…Pettersson, 2007), this study's findings show that males can regard their female colleagues as equally competent in technical skills. Contrary to Poutanen and Kovalainen's (2013) results, in the two organizations in this present case study, women's presence is not made absent. It is their absence that is negated, but when their presence is acknowledged, their contributions are valued.…”

“…In doing so, this article shifts the attention away from both a gender-neutral approach to innovation (dominating extant innovation literature) and a gender analysis that, in challenging the masculine order, paradoxically reinforces the gender binary (e.g. Berglund and Thorslund, 2012; Lindberg et al, 2012; Poutanen and Kovalainen, 2013). Instead, the article provides a gendered interpretation of innovation that takes into account the complexities of the movements and interactions between femininities and masculinities.…”

“…Several authors find that promoting men and certain forms of masculinities as the norm for innovation minimizes the role of women and of femininities in the process, reproducing their exclusion at work. Even when women occupy R&D positions (Poutanen and Kovalainen, 2013), their presence is made absent through different strategies, such as impeding the creation of spaces for their participation and the promotion of their ideas in group discussions or the hijacking of their innovations by some colleagues.…”

New Approach to Create More Effective Teams in the Innovation Process in Enterprises

“…Her research specifically related to policies and aimed at enhancing innovation from a gender perspective in three countries within the European Union: Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Further research regarding gender positions within organisations and the invention processes was proposed by Poutanen and Kovalainen (2013); they argued that the gendering of innovative products can be caused by tokenism, which can also be interpreted as a deliberate, but successful process. However, this approach is difficult to sustain in profit-seeking organisations, such as innovative companies, where the real contribution of each person must be identifiable.…”

Género del gerente e innovación: Caso empírico en Pymes de Cali

“…Esta puede ser medida a través de una serie de actividades que están enmarcadas en el quehacer empresarial que llevan al éxito de la organización; sin embargo, las diferentes posturas teóricas no han coincidido en el efecto que tiene el género en la gestión de la innovación, ya que por un lado se plantea que los hombres gestionan actividades innovadoras con mayor fuerza que las mujeres (Kovalainen & Poutanen, 2013;Ljunggren et al, 2010), y por el otro hay autores que plantean que las mujeres realizan innovaciones en los sectores donde más tienen presencia. En ese sentido, este estudio se desarrolló con el fin de identificar el efecto del género del gerente sobre la innovación y las actividades innovadoras, identificadas por la Ocde y Eurostat (2005), en las Pymes de dos sectores de la ciudad de Cali.…”