Studying Gender While ‘Studying Up’: On Ethnography and Epistemological Hegemony
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Studying Gender While ‘Studying Up’ : On Ethnography and Epistemological Hegemony. / Breslin, Samantha Dawn.
In: Anthropology in Action, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2022, p. 1-10.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Studying Gender While ‘Studying Up’
T2 - On Ethnography and Epistemological Hegemony
AU - Breslin, Samantha Dawn
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - This article discusses the epistemological challenges of contending with hegemonic norms while ‘studying up.’ In particular, I discuss the challenges that I faced in following feminist and queer approaches to gender while conducting fieldwork on the gendered norms and values produced through undergraduate computer science education in Singapore. These approaches suggest critical questions about the construction of computer science knowledge and of the common focus on the ‘woman problem’ in computer science. While feminist and queer approaches enabled me to find partial connections with participants, the heteronormativity in/of computer science and problem-solving-based hegemonic epistemology brought challenges in maintaining my methodological and theoretical approach. I highlight the need to greater examine the power dynamics and how these shape the epistemological risks of fieldwork while studying up.
AB - This article discusses the epistemological challenges of contending with hegemonic norms while ‘studying up.’ In particular, I discuss the challenges that I faced in following feminist and queer approaches to gender while conducting fieldwork on the gendered norms and values produced through undergraduate computer science education in Singapore. These approaches suggest critical questions about the construction of computer science knowledge and of the common focus on the ‘woman problem’ in computer science. While feminist and queer approaches enabled me to find partial connections with participants, the heteronormativity in/of computer science and problem-solving-based hegemonic epistemology brought challenges in maintaining my methodological and theoretical approach. I highlight the need to greater examine the power dynamics and how these shape the epistemological risks of fieldwork while studying up.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - computer science
KW - ethnographic fieldwork
KW - feminist and queer anthropology
KW - heteronormativity
KW - higher education
KW - problem-based epistemology
U2 - 10.3167/aia.2022.290201
DO - 10.3167/aia.2022.290201
M3 - Journal article
VL - 29
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Anthropology in Action
JF - Anthropology in Action
SN - 0967-201X
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 313668099