Cracking IT: negotiating working-class gender capital through group enterprises in India

Arun, Shoba ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2950-3157 and Arun, Thankom (2023) Cracking IT: negotiating working-class gender capital through group enterprises in India. Work, Employment and Society, 37 (4). pp. 823-840. ISSN 0950-0170

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Abstract

Digital work is often associated with higher levels of earning and increased social mobility. Working in the digital economy will not benefit all women equally or act as an enabler of broader social change. The article draws attention to the intersection of gender and class in work in the IT sector of India, where women have increased their visibility and participation. Through a gender capital approach and intersectional analyses, the article points to the incontrovertible impact of class and gender when women from low-income backgrounds engage in IT- based group enterprises in the state of Kerala. A central insight from the study is the need to disaggregate types of IT work as women’s experiences in IT are shaped by the simultaneity of working practices, intersectional inequalities and gendered behaviours, often with limits to gender capital and spill-over impact on broader gender and social relations.