From the “invisible presence” to the “good girl”: the roles of female researchers in the field of communication (1930-1990)
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Abstract
Women have had a secondary role in communication research, often being forgotten or even erased from our disciplinary canon. For this reason, the female experience in the field of communication has been scarcely addressed. The main objective of this paper is to understand and explore the roles played by women researchers in communication who belonged to the the first (1930-60) and second (1970-90) generations. To this end, it develops a dual methodological approach, combining a critical-hermeneutic approach and in-depth interviews with some of the leading female researchers in the field. The results show the existence of two roles that can explain women's experiences in the discipline, as they occurred in masculinized and androcentric academic circles. These roles are: the role of the “invisible presence” (1930-60s) and the role of the “good girl” (1970-90s). Both roles allow us to identify the incongruence between the feminine role and the role of scientific authority that has complicated the careers of women researchers in the field of communication. As a conclusion, we focus on the need to recover the female experience in theaaqq history of communication research as a mechanism to achieve a fairer and more pluralistic discipline for all of its members.
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