Are We “There” Yet? The Treatment of Gender and Feminism in Technical, Business, and Workplace Writing Studies

Kate White Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne ; Suzanne Kesler Rumsey Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne ; Stevens Amidon Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne

Abstract

This article reexamines the treatment of gender and feminism in technical, business, and workplace writing studies—areas in which the three of us teach. Surprisingly, the published discourse of our field seems to implicitly minimize the gendered nature of business and technical writing workplaces and classrooms. To understand this apparent lack of focus, we review five technical and business communication academic journals and build on previous quantitative evaluations done by Isabelle Thompson in 1999 and by Isabelle Thompson Elizabeth Overman Smith in 2006. We also review nine popular textbooks using a content analysis method based on Thompson’s work. Finally, we discuss current research in feminist pedagogies vis-à-vis these results and our own experiences in the professional writing classroom.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2016-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0047281615600637
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (9)

  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 9 →
  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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