Women Managers and Entrepreneurs and Digitalization: On the Verge of a New Era or a Nervous Breakdown?

摘要

The purpose of this article is to examine how female managers and entrepreneurs are employing digital technologies in their working and private lives and what they think about digitalization. The material for the study was gathered through interviews with women in South Savo, Finland. The article builds on the theory of technology domestication, emphasizing the role of users in making a technology usable in their everyday contexts. The findings show that women experience challenges but also gain clear benefits when employing digital technologies. Among the challenges is that women are traditionally rather reserved when it comes to applying technology. Among the benefits is the practice-oriented stance of women towards digital technologies. Moreover, the rise of digital social media and its increasing importance in the working and business environments could make it easier for women to manage both work- and family-related communication. This may improve their wellbeing at work and help women towards equality at work. However, they need support in finding their digitalized career paths.