1st Edition

Patterns of Inclusion How Gender Matters for Automation, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

By Elisabeth Kelan Copyright 2025
184 Pages
by Routledge

184 Pages
by Routledge

Shortlisted for the 2025 Social Issues in Management (SIM) Outstanding Book Award from the Academy of Management. It is widely presumed that digitalisation, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) shape the future of work; yet, gender is rarely considered in those debates. This ground-breaking book, written by a leading thinker on gender, inclusion and organisations, is based on in-depth... Read more

1. Introduction: Human-Like

2. Imaging Futures between Automation and Augmentation

3. Uniquely Human and the Automatability of Socio-Emotional Skills

4. Algorithmic Bias as Ultimately Fixable

5. In/Visibility by Design

6. Conclusion: Unwritten Rules

Biography

Elisabeth Kelan is Professor of Leadership and Organisation at Essex Business School, University of Essex, United Kingdom. Kelan is an expert on gender and digitalisation, women’s leadership, men as change agents for gender equality, generations at work, and diversity and inclusion.

“A ground-breaking book that fills a critical gap by providing a much-needed thorough analysis through a gender lens of perspectives on the potential impacts of automation and AI on the future of work. It enables us to imagine more inclusive and equitable scenarios that better equip us to forge a fairer digital future for all.” 

Ursula WynhovenDirector and Representative to the United Nations, International Telecommunication Union

“An important work that provides unique, timely, and exceptional insights into the digitalisation of gender. Through rigorous research, Elisabeth Kelan illuminates the gendered values, decisions, and biases that shape digitalisation, automation, and artificial intelligence systems, and why they must be grounded in equity and inclusion.” 

Melissa Suzanne FisherNew York University Institute for Public Knowledge and School of Professional Studies