Machines vs Women
Feminist writers have long argued that gender and technology shape each other [1, 2]. Back in 1985, Donna Haraway considered how feminists could use technology to improve social progress in The Cyborg Manifesto. Nearly 20 years later, Judy Wajcman introduced us to Technofeminism and provided a framework for exploring how technology, gender, and power intersect [3]. Despite technologies in our society taking off over the past few decades - the analyses of language, representation, and participation along its production chain has not changed much in relation to gender (nor power). We still find that women are missing from the design, development, and implementation of technologies. When it comes to jobs, women continue to be underrepresented in the field of AI. This in turn limits access to future opportunities while simultaneously influencing the design and deployment of technology [4].
I’ve written on this blog before of my amusement at the old-fashioned-ness of ‘new’ tech with a frequency that’s bordering on tedious. Thinking about the future of work in this way is a great reminder that while society may have an affinity for looking back, the future itself doesn't yet exist. We write, speak, and act it into existence in the present. The policy choices we make, the conversations we have, the funding we source, and the support we offer today are working to shape the future - one present decision at a time.
In a 2025 study of nationally representative survey data from roughly 8,000 UK respondents, researchers concluded that women's lower uptake of AI was driven by how they perceived the broader societal risks associated with the technology, and not by technological illiteracy nor lack of access [5]. The research around gender and uptake of new technologies is a small yet rapidly growing area of research, but if I may be so bold - I think a lot of the time the wrong questions are being asked. "Why are women so distrustful of machines, automation, technologies?", the men folk howl. "Don't they want to unlock their potential?!?!?"
Alright, alright. Reel it in. We live very different lives, pal.
A much more useful question to ask would be - How does being a woman mean that machines/technologies consistently cause you harm? I trust you've read your copy of Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women [6]in which she lays out countless examples illustrating this point. Everything from safety equipment to city layouts tends to be male-centered in design. That means size, shape, comportment, responsibilities, threats, etc. that women have to manage do not factor in. So, unsurprisingly women are not unquestioningly and immediately all-in when something mechanised is up for sale.
More to the point of the above study, women are also at risk of being perceived as less competent at work when they use AI tools. A pre-registered experiment recently revealed a competence penalty on tech adopters with females being penalized more (13%) than their male counterparts (6%). Anticipating this competence penalty was associated with slower adoption among female engineers in the study. [7]
This ought not to come as a shock. During previous waves of technological change, ample research has shown technologies reproducing well-worn gendered patterns and divisions of labour [8]. Indeed, in Wajman's Technofeminism, she argues that society and technology are mutually shaping; that to shape potential technologies to come, it's imperative to include women as embodied participants all along the production chain. That means women are needed in the conception, design, trouble-shooting, critique, sales, and regulation of technologies.
So long as we continue to let the future happen to us, rather than purposely shaping it here and now, we will see a repetition of past inequalities, albeit at scale. Honestly interrogating systems that maintain inequality is crucial in creating real change. The usual logic applies for how to approach any seemingly overwhelming problem: scale down, find others, make a new apparatus, rinse-repeat. Schedule snack and nap breaks.
It isn't overwhelming when we speak and act realistically. The future doesn't yet exist. Technologies are not neutral and so we must engage with them now to make them equal in the future.
So, are we riding at dawn or what? Who's in charge of sandwiches?
Resources
If you are in Europe looking for support and knowledge resources for inclusive gender innovation, consider https://www.inspirequality.eu/
If you are in the UK looking for collaborative communities dedicated to women in STEM, consider https://www.womenintech.co.uk/
If you are a teacher looking for resources for your students, consider https://techshecan.org/
If you are currently only able to take individual action, consider using digital tools that appear to be trying to handle data ethically. Consult helpful lists like this one https://dataethics.eu/tools/
Or consider attending online events to evolve your own thinking about gender and digital tools. Here’s an online talk coming up on 24 June 2026 https://luma.com/1ksai3xp
Works Cited
[1] Wajcman, J. (1991). Feminism confronts technology. Pennsylvania State University Press.
[2] Kelan, E. (2025). Man-Versus- Machine: Gender and Technology in Discourses on the Future of Work. Gender in Management: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-09-2024-0513
[3] Wajcman, J. (2004). TechnoFeminism. Polity Press.
[4] ILO Brief, (2026). Gen AI, occupational segregation and gender equality in the world of work. In International Labour Organization eBooks. https://doi.org/10.54394/00033798
[5] Stephany, F., & Duszynski, J. (2026). Women worry, men adopt: How gendered perceptions shape the use of generative AI. arXiv.https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03880
[6] Perez, C. C. (2019). Invisible Women: Data bias in a world designed for men. https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Women-Data-World-Designed/dp/1419729071
[7] Gai, P. J., Hou, J. and Tu, Y. Competence Penalty Is a Barrier to the Adoption of New Technology, (May 11, 2025). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5255039
[8] Howcroft, D. and Rubery, J. 2019. ‘Bias in, bias out’: Gender equality and the future of work debate. Labour & Industry 29 (2): 213–27.
Cover art for post - Illustration by Rudra K on Unsplash