Yes the title of this blog post is sensational. After reading Chapter 7 from Hicks’ 2014 book titled Technology and Professional Identity of Librarians, I was appalled to read that the few male librarians in our profession are negatively stereotyped into being unable to handle a real career and the male dominated technology field infers that more skillful males will join the profession in the future. There is a proven concept that the competitive environment of technology is male dominated. If this is true, then will more males join librarianship since it is becoming more tech-based? There are a lot of things that are terrible about all this – males have tough stereotypes to overcome and there is a misconception that technology is the omen that will bring in more capable male librarians to the field. I am going home early to sit at home, cry, read a scholarly book, and drink my tea with my pinkie sticking out – thank you very much.
What do male and female librarians think about technology and gender in our profession? Comments please…
All information on this post comes from Chapter 7 Technology, Gender, and Professional Identity:
Hicks, D. (2014). Technology and professional identity of librarians: The making of the cybrarian. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Further Reading on the topic of gender and librarianship visit – Chapter 4 That’s Women’s Work: Pink Collar Professions, Gender, and the Librarian Stereotype:
Pagowsky, N., & Rigby, M. E. (2014). The librarian stereotype: Deconstructing perceptions and presentations of information work. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
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Heidi Blackburn
Yes, technology is a factor in bringing males to the library profession. At least, it is for the 231 self-identified male Millennials from 37 LIS schools across the United States who participated in my PhD dissertation survey and interviews in 2013. My case study investigates what prompts male Millennials to join the historically stereotyped feminized library profession. The study addresses social, cultural, economic, and/or political factors that influence male Millennials to become professional librarians; the influence of technology on male Millennials currently enrolled in library and information science (LIS) graduate programs decisions to become professional librarians; and professional stereotypes male Millennials currently enrolled in LIS graduate programs encounter. I encourage you to read the study and contact me if you have any questions. The dissertation is posted via open access here: http://works.bepress.com/heidi_blackburn/29/
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