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Cited by 69Media, Gender, and AdvertisingEthics and Social Impacts of AIGender Studies in Language

Female librarians and male computer programmers? Gender bias in occupational images on digital media platforms

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Singh, Vivek K., Chayko, Mary, Inamdar, Raj, Floegel, Diana·2020·Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
DOI 10.1002/asi.24335
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Abstract

Media platforms, technological systems, and search engines act as conduits and gatekeepers for all kinds of information. They often influence, reflect, and reinforce gender stereotypes, including those that represent occupations. This study examines the prevalence of gender stereotypes on digital media platforms and considers how human efforts to create and curate messages directly may impact these stereotypes. While gender stereotyping in social media and algorithms has received some examination in the recent literature, its prevalence in different types of platforms (for example, wiki vs. news vs. social network) and under differing conditions (for example, degrees of human‐ and machine‐led content creation and curation) has yet to be studied. This research explores the extent to which stereotypes of certain strongly gendered professions (librarian, nurse, computer programmer, civil engineer) persist and may vary across digital platforms (Twitter, the New York Times online, Wikipedia, and Shutterstock). The results suggest that gender stereotypes are most likely to be challenged when human beings act directly to create and curate content in digital platforms, and that highly algorithmic approaches for curation showed little inclination towards breaking stereotypes. Implications for the more inclusive design and use of digital media platforms, particularly with regard to mediated occupational messaging, are discussed.

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  • The percentage of all people using the Internet in the last three months prior to the survey in Europe in 2020 was 87.62%, an increase of 5.21 percentage points in 2024, while the percentage of people in the 65+ age group was 61.26%, an increase of 15.01 percentage points in 2024.

    “The percentage of all people using the Internet in the last three months prior to the survey in Europe in 2020 was 87.62% (therefore an increase of 5.21% points in 2024), while the percentage of people in the 65 + age group was 61.26% (an increase of 15.01% points in 2024) [11 ].”

    From The Elderly Digital Divide: Digital Exclusion Versus the Right not To Use the Internet (2026) · cites this paper as [11]

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  • The availability and development of ICTs have brought enormous benefits and reduced social inequalities for many people who were motivated to use new technologies, had physical access to them and mastered the necessary ICT skills.

    “It is beyond debate that the availability and development of ICTs have brought enormous benefits and reduced social inequalities for many people who have been motivated to use new technologies, have physical access to them and have mastered the necessary ICT skills [11].”

    From The Elderly Digital Divide: Digital Exclusion Versus the Right not To Use the Internet (2026) · cites this paper as [11]

    The Introduction and §2.3 discuss gender bias and inequities in digital media, but do not address whether ICTs have reduced social inequalities for people with access, motivation, and ICT skills. Searches for those benefits and for digital-divide concepts found no passage establishing the claim in our copy; the discussion of bias does not itself contradict it. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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  16. Winner, L. (1980). Do artifacts have politics? Daedalus, 109(1), 121-136. How to cite this article: Singh VK, Chayko M, Inamdar R, Floegel D. Female librarians and male computer programmers? Gender bias in occupational images on digital media platforms. J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 2020;71:1281-1294. https:// doi.org/10.1002/asi.24335

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Authors
Singh, V. K., Chayko, M., Inamdar, R., & Floegel, D.
Affiliations
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
Corresponding author
Singh, Vivek K.
ORCID
Singh, Vivek K.
Venue
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2020-01-22
Volume
71
Issue
11
Pages
1281-1294
ISSN
  • 2330-1635 (ISSN-L)
  • 2330-1643
DOI
10.1002/asi.24335
OpenAlex
W2994826132
Cited by
69
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 2
FWCI
14.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Media, Gender, and Advertising
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies in Language
Keywords
gender stereotypes, occupational stereotypes, gender bias, digital media platforms, content curation, algorithmic curation, Wikipedia, Twitter, New York Times, librarians, software developers, nurses, civil engineers, inclusive design

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