Stanford visit - Learning from transdisciplinarity

The idea with this project is to be a visiting scholar at Stanford University in order collaborate with researchers at the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research. I will pursue my own postdoctoral project 'Learning from transdisciplinarity. Gen der and ICT as windows to understanding management of knowledge' where the underlying idea of this study is to combine two concerns that are important to the understanding of the conditions for learning in working life, and in knowledge-intensive companie s in particular. First, we will study how employees in knowledge-intensive, interdisciplinary oriented companies manage learning and knowledge. Second, we will analyse consequences of such learning strategies to relative learning possibilities and career option for men and women. In this project, we situate Norwegian companies in a larger context and compare management of learning and knowledge with companies in other places. Thus, our research design includes companies in the software industry in Malaysi a; where we find an equal number of men and women computer scientists, and to Californian companies, because they are conventionally believed to be leading-edge in the area that we want to focus on, namely the knowledge-intensive software industry. This p roject fits nicely with a project at the Clayman Institute icon Valley Information Technology Study'. This is a multi-year study where the Clayman Institute has partnered with the Palo Alto-based Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology to explore th e factors that shape technical women's opportunities in Silicon Valley companies. They are interested in patterns of advancement through technical ladders and why so few women comprise high tech positions in the upper echelons of corporate leadership. Bot h these projects will benefit from a collaboration. Also, ongoing projects at Centre for Work, Technology and Organisation (WTO) are highly relevant potential partners.