Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2005

The Computer Expert in Mixed-Gendered Collaborative Writing Groups

Joanna Wolfe University of Louisville Hospital ; Kara Poe Alexander University of Louisville Hospital

Abstract

When mixed-gendered student teams collaborate on technical writing tasks, a single male often emerges as the group computer expert. The effects of this trend on perceptions of workload are unknown. This article reports the results of a study in which 12 mixed-gendered teams answered questionnaires on the division and perceptions of labor in their teams. Detailed case studies of four teams supplement the questionnaires. Findings suggest that computer work was highly visible, highly valued, and dominated by men. By contrast, writing was less visible and selectively recognized. Some men were credited with strong writing skills even though they did not produce writing for the project. Moreover, some students explicitly leveraged their computer expertise to avoid writing; furthermore, these computer experts rarely shared technical expertise with others in the context of the team project.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2005-04-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651904272978
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy collaborative writing technical communication digital rhetoric
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Cecil-Lemkin (2022)
    Feature: Expanding Access in Collaborative Writing Pedagogy
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  2. Zha et al. (2021)
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  3. Friess et al. (2021)
    “Dude, that Sucks”: Examining Scrum’s Influence on Empathy in Student Teams
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  4. Feuer (2020)
    Scaffolding Feedback Between Cowriters With Different Levels of English-Languag…
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  5. Lam (2018)
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  1. Mallette (2017)
    Writing and Women’s Retention in Engineering
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  2. Moeller et al. (2016)
    Food Fights: Cookbook Rhetorics, Monolithic Constructions of Womanhood, and Fie…
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  3. Lam (2016)
    Improving Technical Communication Group Projects: An Experimental Study of Medi…
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  4. Wolfe et al. (2011)
    Teaching the IMRaD Genre: Sentence Combining and Pattern Practice Revisited
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  5. Mackiewicz (2010)
    Assertions of Expertise in Online Product Reviews
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  6. Wolfe (2005)
    Gesture and Collaborative Planning: A Case Study of a Student Writing Group
    Written Communication

References (24) · 5 in this index

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CrossRef global citation count: 21 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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