Abstract
Redeeming the promise of digitalisation and datafication in healthcare and social services requires a lot of work, which has been made visible through the concept of data work. The concept of data work has been used to capture the diversity of work that is done to mobilise and use data for a variety of purposes. In this article, we analyse the work done in a public healthcare and social service organisation to develop, implement, and maintain systems and produce standardised data for data-driven technologies. Specifically, we look at the gendered aspects of this work. Our analysis is based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork with a data team working on for instance data validation, record keeping guidance and training, and reporting. Although the ICT sector is still male dominated, the studied team is composed entirely of women, all of whom had professional backgrounds in healthcare, social services, or administrative roles within these sectors. Theoretically, we bring together critical data studies on data work and feminist scholarship on occupational gender segregation and the feminisation of work. We argue that due to the persistence of occupational gender segregation and the feminisation of data work, this labour often remains invisible or unrecognised and undervalued within organisations.
Recommended Citation
Alastalo, Marja and Lehto, Iiris, "Gendered data work practices and the struggle for recognition in a public healthcare and social service organisation" (2025). SJIS Preprints (Forthcoming). 18.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/sjis_preprints/18