Disruptive Masculinities? Male Workers Challenging Gender(ed) Norms in Technology Startup Organizations
| dc.contributor.author | Tobiasiewicz, Edyta | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-05-07T08:31:17Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-05-07T08:31:17Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-04-30 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11089/55546 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The tech industry is one of the most influential and profitable sectors of the new economy, with startup organizations playing a significant role within it. Existing research highlights that these emerging companies remain male-dominated—structurally, normatively, and symbolically. However, researchers rarely consider how norms and gender inequalities, which privilege men and masculinities, might be questioned and negotiated by male employees, especially those in positions of privilege. This article examines how men occupying different roles in tech startups contest, transgress, or redefine dominant gender(ed) norms in their workplaces. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted between 2021 and 2023 with 43 male and female startup employees—as part of a broader study funded by the Polish National Science Centre (grant no. 2020/37/N/HS6/03913)—this analysis demonstrates how men engaging in emotional labor (on individual and collective levels), actively reconfigure the gender regime and “disrupt” the reproduction of normative models of masculinity within their companies. | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego | pl |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | Qualitative Sociology Review;2 | en |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Masculinity | en |
| dc.subject | Startup Organizations | en |
| dc.subject | Tech Workplaces | en |
| dc.subject | Challenging Masculine Norms | en |
| dc.subject | Tech Industry | en |
| dc.title | Disruptive Masculinities? Male Workers Challenging Gender(ed) Norms in Technology Startup Organizations | en |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dc.page.number | 16-33 | |
| dc.contributor.authorAffiliation | AGH University of Krakow | en |
| dc.identifier.eissn | 1733-8077 | |
| dc.references | Acker, Joan. 1990. “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations.” Gender & Society 4(2):139-158. | en |
| dc.references | Acker, Joan. 2012. “Gendered Organizations and Intersectionality: Problems and Possibilities.” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 31(3):214-224. | en |
| dc.references | Alegria, Sharla. 2019. “Escalator or Step Stool? Gendered Labor and Token Processes in Tech Work.” Gender & Society 33(5):722-745. | en |
| dc.references | Alegria, Sharla and Pallavi Banerjee. 2024. “Time Won’t Give Me Time: Intersections of Racialized and Gendered Organization of Work in Tech.” Social Problems 20:1-15. | en |
| dc.references | Alfrey, Lauren and France W. Twine. 2017. “Gender-Fluid Geek Girls: Negotiating Inequality Regimes in the Tech Industry.” Gender & Society 31(1):28-50. | en |
| dc.references | Barney, Darin D. 2008. Społeczeństwo sieci [The Network Society]. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sic! | en |
| dc.references | Bates, Trudy. 2022. “Rethinking How We Work with Acker’s Theory of Gendered Organizations.” Gender, Work & Organization 29(4):1041-1064. | en |
| dc.references | Berdahl, Jennifer L. et al. 2018. “Work as a Masculinity Contest.” Journal of Social Issues 4(3):422-448. | en |
| dc.references | Blank, Steve and Bob Dorf. 2013. Podręcznik startupu. Budowa wielkiej firmy krok po kroku [ The Startup Handbook. Building a Great Company Step by Step]. Gliwice: Helion. | en |
| dc.references | Bradley, Harriet. 2008. Płeć [Gender]. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sic! | en |
| dc.references | Bray, Francesca. 2007. “Gender and Technology.” Annual Review of Anthropology 36(1):37-53. | en |
| dc.references | Bridges, Tristan and Kendall Ota. 2020. “‘Sprinkle Some Gay on My Straight’: Hybrid Hegemonic Masculinities in a Post- Gay Era.” Pp. 274-285 in Routledge International Handbook of Heterosexualities Studies, edited by J. Dean and N. Fischer. New York: Routledge. | en |
| dc.references | Bridges, Tristan and C.J. Pascoe. 2014. “Hybrid Masculinities: New Directions in the Sociology of Men and Masculinities.” Sociology Compass 8(3):246-258. | en |
| dc.references | Budgeon, Shelley. 2014. “The Dynamics of Gender Hegemony: Femininities, Masculinities and Social Change.” Sociology 48(2):317-334. | en |
| dc.references | Campero, Santiago. 2021. “Hiring and Intra-Occupational Gender Segregation in Software Engineering.” American Sociological Review 86(1):60-92. | en |
| dc.references | Cavallo, Angelo et al. 2019. “Fostering Digital Entrepreneurship from Startup to Scaleup: The Role of Venture Capital Funds and Angel Groups.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 145:24-35. | en |
| dc.references | Cegielska, Edyta and Danuta Zawadzka. 2017. “Źródła finansowania startupów w Polsce [Sources of Startup Financing in Poland].” Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio H. Oeconomia 51(6):53-61. | en |
| dc.references | Cervantes, Ruy and Bonnie Nardi. 2012. “Building a Mexican Startup Culture Over the Weekends.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Intercultural Collaboration (ICIC ‘12):11-20. | en |
| dc.references | Chen, Carolyn. 2022. Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. | en |
| dc.references | Cockayne, Daniel. 2019. “What Is a Startup Firm? A Methodological and Epistemological Investigation into Research Objects in Economic Geography.” Geoforum 107:77-87. | en |
| dc.references | Connell, Raewyn. 2006. “Glass Ceilings or Gendered Institutions? Mapping the Gender Regimes of Public Sector Worksites.” Public Administration Review 66(6):837-849. | en |
| dc.references | Cooper, Marianne. 2000. “Being the ‘Go-To Guy’: Fatherhood, Masculinity, and the Organization of Work in Silicon Valley.” Qualitative Sociology 23:379-405. | en |
| dc.references | Eisen, Daniel B. and Liann Yamashita. 2019. “Borrowing from Femininity: The Caring Man, Hybrid Masculinities, and Maintaining Male Dominance.” Men and Masculinities 22(5):801-820. | en |
| dc.references | Ely, Robin J. and Michael Kimmel. 2018. “Thoughts on the Workplace as a Masculinity Contest.” Journal of Social Issues 74(3):628-634. | en |
| dc.references | Eurostat. 2024. ICT Specialists in Employment. Retrieved April 06, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=ICT_specialists_in_employment#Source_data_for_tables_and_graphs. | en |
| dc.references | Feldman, Robin, Alice Armitage, and Connie Wang. 2017. “The Gender Gap in Startup Catalyst Organizations: Bridging the Divide between Narrative and Reality.” Oregon Law Review 95(2):313-336. | en |
| dc.references | Frenkel, Michal. 2008. “Reprogramming Femininity? The Construction of Gender Identities in the Israeli Hi‐Tech Industry between Global and Local Gender Orders.” Gender, Work & Organization 15(4):352-374. | en |
| dc.references | Godfrey, Richard and Joanna Brewis. 2018. “‘Nowhere Else Sells Bliss Like This’: Exploring the Emotional Labour of Soldiers at War.” Gender, Work & Organization 25(6):653-669. | en |
| dc.references | Healy, Geraldine et al. 2019. “In the Steps of Joan Acker: A Journey in Researching Inequality Regimes and Intersectional Inequalities.” Gender, Work & Organization 26(12):1749-1762. | en |
| dc.references | Hearn, Jeff. 1993. “Emotive Subjects: Organizational Men, Organizational Masculinities and the Deconstruction of ‘Emotions.’” Pp. 148-196 in Emotion in Organizations, edited by S. Fineman. London: Sage. | en |
| dc.references | Hochschild, Arlie R. 1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. | en |
| dc.references | Hytti, Ulla, Päivi Karhunen, and Miruna Radu-Lefebvre. 2024. “Entrepreneurial Masculinity: A Fatherhood Perspective.” Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice 48(1):246-273. | en |
| dc.references | Kałowski, Adam and Justyna Góral. 2017. “Tendencje rozwojowe polskiego rynku start-upów [Development Trends of the Polish Start-Up Market].” Pp: 273-304 in Start-up a uwarunkowania sukcesu. Wymiar teoretyczno-praktyczny [Startup and the Conditions for Success. Theoretical and Practical Dimension], edited by A. Kałowski and J. Wysocki. Warsaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza SGH. | en |
| dc.references | Kaplan, Amit. 2022. “‘Just Let it Pass by and It Will Fall on Some Woman’: Invisible Work in the Labor Market.” Gender & Society 36(6):838-868. | en |
| dc.references | Kluczyńska, Urszula. 2021. “Męskości hybrydowe, czyli wilk w owczej skórze. Definiowanie konceptu [Hybrid Masculinities or a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Defining the Concept].” Przegląd Krytyczny 3(2):35-50. | en |
| dc.references | Knappert, Lena, Boukje Cnossen, and Renate Ortlieb. 2024. “Inequality Regimes in Coworking Spaces: How New Forms of Organising (Re)produce Inequalities.” Work, Employment and Society 39(1):43-63. | en |
| dc.references | Koskinen, Henri. 2021. “Domesticating Startup Culture in Finland.” European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology 8(2):175- 196. | en |
| dc.references | Koskinen, Henri. 2023. “Outlining Startup Culture as a Global Form.” Journal of Cultural Economy 16(6):812-828. | en |
| dc.references | Leszczyńska, Katarzyna. 2016. Płeć w instytucje uwikłana [Gender in Institutions]. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. | en |
| dc.references | Leszczyńska, Katarzyna, Katarzyna Zielińska, and Sylwia Urbańska. 2024. “From Hegemonic to Hybrid and Back? The Context-Adaptive Masculinity of Polish Male Migrants.” Men and Masculinities 27(3):219-243. | en |
| dc.references | Levina, Marina and Amy A. Hasinoff. 2017. “The Silicon Valley Ethos: Tech Industry Products, Discourses, and Practices.” Television & New Media 18(6):489-495. | en |
| dc.references | Lewis, Patricia. 2008. “Emotion Work and Emotion Space: Using a Spatial Perspective to Explore the Challenging of Masculine Emotion Management Practices.” British Journal of Management 19:130-140. | en |
| dc.references | Li, Xiaotian. 2023. “Strategic Flexibility in a Male-Dominated Occupation: Women Software Engineers in China.” Journal of Gender Studies 32(4):330-342. | en |
| dc.references | Li, Xiaotian. 2025. “The Gendering of Programmers’ Work: Taking China’s IT Industry as an Example.” The Journal of Chinese Sociology 12(1):2. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40711-024-00228-6. | en |
| dc.references | Li, Xiaotian and Jenny Chan. 2024. “Migrate to (Not) Be ‘Gurus’: Unpacking Workplace Masculinity in China’s Tech Sector.” Gender, Work & Organization 31(6):1-16. | en |
| dc.references | Lohan, Maria and Wendy Faulkner. 2004. “Masculinities and Technologies: Some Introductory Remarks.” Men and Masculinities 6(4):319-329. | en |
| dc.references | Martin, Patricia Y. 2006. “Practising Gender at Work: Further Thoughts on Reflexivity.” Gender, Work & Organization 13(3):254-276. | en |
| dc.references | Mellström, Ulf, Dag Balkmar, and Anne-Charlott Callerstig. 2023. “Tracing the Superheroes of Our Time: Contemporary and Emergent Masculinities in Tech Entrepreneurship.” Pp. 417-429 in Routledge Handbook on Men, Masculinities and Organizations, edited by J. Hearn et al. London: Routledge. | en |
| dc.references | Mendick, Heather et al. 2023. “Geek Entrepreneurs: The Social Network, Iron Man and the Reconfiguration of Hegemonic Masculinity.” Journal of Gender Studies 32(3):283-295. | en |
| dc.references | Messerschmidt, James W. and Michael A. Messner. 2018. “Hegemonic, Nonhegemonic, and ‘New’ Masculinities.” Pp: 35- 56 in Gender Reckonings, edited by J. W. Messerschmidt et al. New York: New York University Press. | en |
| dc.references | Mickey, Ethel L. 2019. “When Gendered Logics Collide: Going Public and Restructuring in a High-Tech Organization.” Gender & Society 33(4):509-533. | en |
| dc.references | Mickey, Ethel L. 2022. “The Organization of Networking and Gender Inequality in the New Economy: Evidence from the Tech Industry.” Work & Occupations 49(4):383-420. | en |
| dc.references | Murgia, Annalisa and Barbara Poggio. 2013. “Fathers’ Stories of Resistance and Hegemony in Organizational Cultures.” Gender, Work & Organization 20(4):413-424. | en |
| dc.references | Neely, Megan T., Patrick Sheehan, and Christine L. Williams. 2023. “Social Inequality in High Tech: How Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Structure the World’s Most Powerful Industry.” Annual Review of Sociology 49(1):319-338. | en |
| dc.references | Nickson, Dennis and Marek Korczynski. 2009. “Aesthetic Labour, Emotional Labour and Masculinity.” Gender, Work & Organization 16(3):291-299. | en |
| dc.references | Nixon, Darren. 2009. “‘I Can’t Put a Smiley Face On’: Working‐Class Masculinity, Emotional Labour and Service Work in the ‘New Economy.’” Gender, Work & Organization 16(3):300-322. | en |
| dc.references | Ottemo, Andreas. 2019. “The Coproduction of Masculinity and Technology: Problems and Prospects.” Pp. 341-350 in Routledge International Handbook of Masculinity Studies, edited by L. Gottzén, U. Mellström, and T. Shefer. London: Routledge. | en |
| dc.references | Ozkazanc-Pan, Banu and Susan Clark Muntean. 2018. “Networking towards (In)equality: Women Entrepreneurs in Technology.” Gender, Work & Organization 25(4):379-400. | en |
| dc.references | Papageorgiou, Antigoni. 2023. “Exploring Everyday Experiences of Entrepreneurial Labour: Gender and Work in Collaborative Workspaces of Athens.” Gender, Place & Culture 30(10):1351-1371. | en |
| dc.references | Petrucci, Larissa. 2020. “Theorizing Postfeminist Communities: How Gender‐Inclusive Meetups Address Gender Inequity in High‐Tech Industries.” Gender, Work & Organization 27(4):545-564. | en |
| dc.references | Ridgeway, Cecilia L. and Aliya Saperstein. 2024. “Diversifying Gender Categories and the Sex/Gender System.” Annual Review of Sociology 50:385-405. | en |
| dc.references | Risman, Barbara J. 2018. Where the Millennials Will Take Us: A New Generation Wrestles with the Gender Structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press. | en |
| dc.references | Saura García, Carlos. 2024. “Datafeudalism: The Domination of Modern Societies by Big Tech Companies.” Philosophy & Technology 37(3):90. | en |
| dc.references | Savin, Ivan, Kristina Chukavina, and Andrey Pushkarev. 2023. “Topic-Based Classification and Identification of Global Trends for Startup Companies.” Small Business Economics 60(2):659-689. | en |
| dc.references | Scott, James. 2015. “Za kulisami oficjalnej wersji [Behind the Official Story].” Pp. 145-158 in Opór i dominacja: antologia tekstów [Resistance and Domination: An Anthology of Texts], edited by A. Pasieka and K. Zielińska. Cracow: Nomos. | en |
| dc.references | Shih, Johanna. 2006. “Circumventing Discrimination: Gender and Ethnic Strategies in Silicon Valley.” Gender & Society 20(2):177-206. | en |
| dc.references | Søgaard, Thomas F. and Jakob Krause-Jensen. 2020. “Bouncer Service Work: Emotional Labour and Flexible Masculinity.” Journal of Organizational Ethnography 9(1):30-43. | en |
| dc.references | Startup Poland. 2019. Raport Polskie Startupy 2019 [Polish Startups Report 2019]. Retrieved April 06, 2025 (https://startuppoland. org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Startup-Poland-raport-Polskie-startupy-2019-PL-www-1.pdf). | en |
| dc.references | Szczygieł, Dorota et al. 2009. “Praca emocjonalna w zawodach usługowych – pojęcie, przegląd teorii i badań [Emotional Labor in Service Roles—Conceptualization, Theories, and Research].” Psychologia Społeczna 3(11):155-166. | en |
| dc.references | Tobiasiewicz, Edyta. 2022. “Mechanizmy stratyfikacji płciowej w strukturach organizacji start-upów technologicznych [Mechanisms of Gender Stratification in the Organizational Structures of Technology Startups].” Przegląd Socjologiczny 71(3):191-218. | en |
| dc.references | Tripathi, Nirnaya and Markku Oivo. 2020. “The Roles of Incubators, Accelerators, Co-Working Spaces, Mentors, and Events in the Startup Development Process.” Pp. 147-159 in Fundamen tals of Software Startups: Essential Engineering and Business Aspects, edited by Anh Nguyen-Duc et al. Switzerland: Springer. | en |
| dc.references | Twine, France W. 2022. Geek Girls: Inequality and Opportunity in Silicon Valley. New York: New York University Press. | en |
| dc.references | Ward, Jenna, Robert McMurray, and Scott Sutcliffe. 2020. “Working at the Edge: Emotional Labour in the Spectre of Violence.” Gender, Work & Organization 27(1):82-97. | en |
| dc.references | Wynn, Alison T. and Shelley J. Correll. 2018. “Combating Gender Bias in Modern Workplaces.” Pp. 509-521 in Handbook of the Sociology of Gender, edited by B. J. Risman, C. M. Froyum, and W. J. Scarborough. Switzerland: Springer. | en |
| dc.references | Young, Erin, Judy Wajcman, and Laila Sprejer. 2023. “Mind the Gender Gap: Inequalities in the Emergent Professions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science.” New Technology, Work and Employment 38(3):391-414. | en |
| dc.contributor.authorEmail | tobiasiewicz@agh.edu.pl | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.18778/1733-8077.21.2.02 | |
| dc.relation.volume | 21 |
Pliki tej pozycji
Pozycja umieszczona jest w następujących kolekcjach
Poza zaznaczonymi wyjątkami, licencja tej pozycji opisana jest jako https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/