[ecrea] IJEP Volume 2, Issue 2, (April-June 2011) special issue on “Gender and Computing in Cyberspace”

Volume 2, Issue 2, (April-June 2011) special issue on “Gender and 
Computing in Cyberspace” has just been published in the International  
Journal of E-Politics (IJEP).

The International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP) is published quarterly in
print and Electronically by IGI Publishing, Hershey-New York, USA

Editor-in-Chief: Celia Romm Livermore, Wayne State University, USA

*PAPER ONE*

Beautiful to Me: Identity, Disability, and Gender in Virtual Environments

Abbe E. Forman (Temple University, USA), Paul M.A. Baker (Georgia
Institute of Technology, USA), Jessica Pater (Georgia Institute of
Technology, USA), and Kel Smith (Anikto LLC, USA)

This paper examines the portrayal of disability, gender, and identity in
virtual communities where representation is a matter of convenience,
style, or whim. A survey was conducted of groups, identifying themselves
as disabled, with a focus on gender, in the virtual space, Second Life.
Four distinctive categories were analyzed in this study: groups
associated with disabilities or being disabled, race/ethnicity, gender,
aging, and sexuality. In the “real world”, the visual cues that activate
schemas serve as an explanation for the stigmas and ensuing isolation
often felt by people with disabilities. In Second Life, where the visual
cues are removed, users with disabilities are associating with others
who identify as being disabled. Additionally, gender appears to play a
role in the group (i.e. “communities”) found in Second Life. Regardless
of binary gender framework, the differences between the groups that are
externally classified as having some degree of disability, and those who
choose to self identify, or affiliate with disability related groups,
have rich import for the sociology of online communities as well as for
the design and characteristics of games.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=53536

*PAPER TWO*

Overcoming the Segregation/Stereotyping Dilemma: Computer Mediated
Communication for Business Women and Professionals

Natalie Sappleton (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)

The fastest recent growth in women-owned firms has been in traditionally
male industries such as telecommunications and construction. This
development has increased the importance of cross-sex networking to
women professionals and entrepreneurs. Women business owners
(particularly those working in traditionally male sectors) may be
hindered in their efforts to build collaborative relations with male
ties because of gender stereotyping. As a response, women may elect to
join all-female networks, but because women in male-dominated sectors
are relatively scarce, this strategy reduces access to resources. This
paper suggests that virtual networking via web pages, email, chat rooms,
and networking sites can provide a solution for women in male dominated
contexts stuck in a ‘segregation/stereotyping bind’. Additionally,
virtual communities can provide access to a very large number of diverse
others and network maintenance is substantially easier than face-to-face
interaction.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=53537

*PAPER THREE*

Would Elizabeth Cady Stanton Blog?: Women Bloggers, Politics, and
Political Participation

Ruth Guthrie (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA)
Louise Soe (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA)
Elaine Yakura (Michigan State University, USA)

This paper examines issues of support for women with Information
Technology (IT) careers. Data was collected from interviews with 38
women, which lasted about 90 minutes. Questions were open-ended
regarding aspects of their careers and career paths. The women
represented a wide variety of experience and nine different industry
sectors and at varying organizational levels. Research on the lack of
women in STEM disciplines focuses mainly on undergraduate education and
attracting women to STEM disciplines, focusing on “filling the
pipeline.” This paper examines what it takes to have a successful,
satisfying career, highlighting areas of support for women that may
influence their success in IT careers.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=51349

*PAPER FOUR*

Effects of Perceiver / Target Gender and Social Networking Presence on
Web-Based Impression Formation

Leslie Jordan Albert (San Jose State University, USA), Timothy R. Hill
(San Jose State University, USA), and Shailaja Venkatsubramanyan (San
Jose State University, USA)

As the Web has expanded in its use and utility it has fundamentally
changed the way in which individuals gather and use information. This
paper suggests that those changes give rise to tangible and significant
effects in the impressions people form of others using Web-based
information. This study explores the impacts of perceiver gender, target
gender, and social networking presence on subjects’ perceptions of
potential teammates otherwise unknown to them as revealed by ratings
they assign based only on search engine results. Experiments reveal
differences in how male and female perceivers view others’ social
networking activity in general and suggest that how the perceiver gender
matches, or differs, from the gender of the target affects how social
networking presence plays into impression formation. Findings hold
implications for professionals, academics and individuals concerned with
the role that Web-based information plays in impression formation and
how inherent gender-based biases may affect power and politics in the
workplace and beyond.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=53539

*PAPER FIVE*

Gender, Power, and eDating

Celia Romm Livermore (Wayne State University, USA), and Toni M. Somers
(Wayne State University, USA)

Following a review of the literature on gender, power, and eDating, this
paper introduces the eDating development model and discusses a number of
hypotheses that can be derived from it. Findings from a research
investigation that explored the hypotheses are presented. The findings
supported all the hypotheses, indicating that: (1) male and female
eDaters follow different sequence of stages in their eDating
development; (2) the behaviors that males and females exhibit as eDaters
are different; and (3) the feedback that male and female eDaters receive
from the environment is different. The paper concludes with a discussion
of the implications from this research to more general questions
relating to gender, power, and eDating.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=53540

*BOOK REVIEW*

* *

Review of /Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology/

Reviewed by Celia Romm Livermore, Wayne State University, USA

To obtain a copy of the review, check out this issue at your local
library or click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/Files/Ancillary/10.4018_jep.2011040107.pdf

*INTERVIEW*

Empowering Youth Political Participation in Turkey: Interview with Itir
Akdogan, University of Helsinki, Finland

Interviewed by Celia Romm Livermore, Wayne State University, USA

http://www.igi-global.com/Files/Ancillary/10.4018_jep.2011040106.pdf

*****************************************************

For full copies of the above articles, check for this issue of the
*International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP)* in your institution's
library. This journal is also included in the IGI Global aggregated
"*InfoSci-Journals*" database:
http://www.igi-global.com/EResources/InfoSciJournals.aspx.

*****************************************************

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

Mission of IJEP:

The mission of the* International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP)* is to
define and expand the boundaries of e-politics as an emerging area of
inter-disciplinary research and practice by assisting in the development
of e-politics theories and empirical models. The journal creates a venue
for empirical, theoretical, and practical scholarly work on e-politics
to be published, leading to sharing of ideas between practitioners and
academics in this field. IJEP contributes to the creation of a community
of e-politics researchers by serving as a “hub” for related activities,
such as organizing seminars and conferences on e-politics and
publication of books on e-politics.

Coverage of IJEP:

The *International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP)* focuses on three major
topic areas: the politics of information technology function and its
role within organizations, the politics of virtual communities and
social networking communities, and the role that electronic media plays
in community activism and party politics at the local, national, and
international levels. Within these major areas, specific topics of
interest to be discussed in the journal include (but are not limited to)
the following:

E-voting and electronically enabled e-government

Impact of globalization on the political role played by the IT unit
within organizations

Impact of race and gender on electronically enabled political manipulations

Party politics and social activism

Politics of diffusion of change within organizations

Politics of social networking communities, including: learning
communities, customers' communities, e-dating communities, gaming
communities, support group communities, etc.

Politics of the IT function and role in organizations

Politics of virtual communities and social networking communities

Politics of geographically based virtual communities

Use of electronic media for surveillance manipulation and harassment

Use of electronic media in industrial and labor relations

Utilization of electronic media for governance and politicking at the
municipal, state, national, and international levels

Utilization of electronic media for political debate, information
sharing, political decision making, and fundraising

Interested authors should consult the journal's manuscript submission
guidelines at www.igi-global.com/ijep <http://www.igi-global.com/ijep>

All inquiries and submissions should be sent to:

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Celia Romm Livermore at (ak1667 /at/ wayne.edu)
<mailto:(ak1667 /at/ wayne.edu)>
-- Celia Romm Livermore (PhD) Editor-in-Chief International Journal of 
E-Politics (IJEP) School of Business Administration Wayne State 
University Detroit, MI, 48202, USA Personal e-mail address: 
(ak1667 /at/ wayne.edu) <mailto:(ak1667 /at/ wayne.edu)> IJEP site: 
www.igi-global.com/IJEP <http://www.igi-global.com/IJEP>
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