Salford Business School Dr Marie Griffiths

I am a member of ISOS (Information Systems, Organisation and Society Research Centre) which is part of the IRIS - a 6* rated Research Institute concerned with Information, Technology, People, Organisations and Society to build a sustainable future.

I have had a somewhat chequered career history, starting off first as a chef for a number of years at the now closed Beaujolais restaurant in Manchester city centre and then at the still popular Lime Tree restaurant In Didsbury. I then moved on to managing the first Laser Quest Tag Centre in the UK, (there are not many occupations that involve wearing a space suit, working in an 'airlock' and repairing laser guns on a daily basis!!). After a number of years I decided to return to education and gained a BSc in Business Information Systems. After my degree I worked as an IT Manager for three years at a Management Consultants in Cheshire. There I was involved in two major IS implementations (a migration of an Mac platform to a PC platform and then an enterprise wide CRM implementation).

I joined the University of Salford in 2004 as a researcher on the Women in IT (WINIT) Project that aimed to investigate why women are under-represented both statistically and symbolically in IT in England. This project ran from January 2004 until March 2006. In response to the findings of the WINIT study a second gender focussed project was embarked upon, The Disappearing Women: Northwest ICT project to further understand why more women leave the sector than are being recruited. Central to this project was making contact with female ex IT professionals and understanding why they left the sector often vowing never to return. This project ended in 2007.

My current post is an Senior Lecturer.

Qualifications

I gained my BSc in Business and Information Systems here at the University of Salford and my obtained PhD (An Ethnographical Study of Metaphor Usage in IS Projects) also here at Salford in the summer of 2007.

Teaching

Modules I currently teach on:

• Professional Legal and Ethical Studies (UG Yrs 2 & 3)
• Professional Issues in IT (MSc)
• Team Projects : Team Projects are unique multi-year student learning experiences where first, second and final year students collaborate on real life consultancy projects. Each team works on a real life, open-ended project developed in consultation with a client organisation

Research

My current research Interests are gender in the ICT workplace, Social Networking (I am currently investigating on-line behaviour in the virtual communities such as Habbo Hotal and Secondlife with Professor Ben Light) and exploring emotions in the workplace through the process of storytelling.

I have currently embarked upon a new research study Cybercitizens: As boundaries between the 'real' and 'virtual' world erode what will be the consequence of growing up and living in a technologically saturated environment?

This preliminary study aims to examine social influences on the nature of technology from the perspective of the Cybercitizen (the technical savvy 13-21 year olds). It aims to report positive stories such as how they use online space to build global relationships, develop team skills playing football on international squads, multi task across technologies and create original media content. It can be argued that the skills gained today, creativity, communication and collaboration will enable Cybercitizens to succeed in the global knowledge-driven economy, tomorrow. Don't be scared but those networked individuals gaming for hours in their bedrooms are the future workforce! The study is expected to report back to concerned parents, educators and employers that time spent in virtual spaces can be a positive pursuit.

Publications Journals

Griffiths, M. and Light, B. (2008) Social Networking and Digital Media Convergence: Classification and its Consequences for Appropriation, Information Systems Frontiers 20(4), 447-459
Griffiths, M., Moore, K and Richardson, H, (2007), 'Celebrating heterogeneity? A survey of female ICT professionals in England' Information, Communication and Society (iCS), 10(3): 338-357
Adam, A., Griffiths. M., Keogh, C., Moore, K., Richardson, H., Tattersall, A., (2006), 'Being an 'it' in IT - Gendered Identities in IT Workplace', EJIS special issue on Organizational and Ethical Issues in the Information Society. 15 (4) : 368-378

Moore, K. Griffiths, M. Richardson, H., and Adam, A., (2008), 'Gendered Futures? Women, the ICT Workplace, and Stories of the Future', Gender, Work and Organisation.

Final Reports/Proceedings
Griffiths, M., Moore, K., Burns, B. and Richardson H. (2007). 'Disappearing Women: North West ICT Project ', Gender Research Information Systems (GRIS) Studies Report. University of Salford

Griffiths, M., and Moore, K., (2006), 'Proceedings of 1st WINIT International Disciplinary Conference', University of Salford, 21st March 2006, Editors Griffiths, M., and Moore, K.

Griffiths, M. and Moore, K. (2006). 'Issues Raised by the WINIT Project', In: E. Trauth, Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology, Hershey, PA, USA: Idea Group Inc.

Book Chapters
Adam, A., Griffiths, M., Keogh, C., Moore, K Richardson, H and Tattersall, A., (2006) 'Gender and information systems research at the University of Salford' in Trauth, E. (ed) 'Encyclopedia of gender and information technology' Idea Group.

Adam, A., Griffiths, M., Keogh, C., Moore, K., Richardson, H. and Tattersall, A. (2005) 'You don't have to be male to work here but it helps! Gender and the IT labour market' in Archibald, J., Emms, J., Grundy, F., Payne, J and Turner, E. (eds) 'The Gender Politics of ICT' (2005) Middlesex University Press, Middlesex.

Griffiths, M. and Moore, K., (2006). 'Women in IT (WINIT) Final Report', Gender Research Information Systems (GRIS) Studies Report. University of Salford

Griffiths, M., Keogh, C., Moore, K., Tattersall, A. and Richardson, H.(2005) 'Managing Diversity or Valuing Diversity?: Gender and the IT Labour Market' in Fred Neiderman and Thomas Ferratt (ed.s) IT Workers: Human Capital Issues in a Knowledge-Based Environment, Hershey, PA, USA: Information Science Publishing

Griffiths, M, Keogh, C., Moore, K., Richardson, H and Tattersall, A., (2006) Inclusion through the ages? Gender, ICT workplaces and lifestage experiences' in Kendall, J., Howcroft, D., Trauth, E., Butler, T., Fitzgerald, B and DeGross J.I. (eds) 'Social inclusion: societal and organisational implications for information systems' Springer-Verger IFIP WG 8.2 conference on Social Inclusion. Limerick July 2006
Conferences Papers

Griffiths, M. and Light, B. (2008) Social Networking and Digital Gaming Media Convergence: Consequences for Appropriation in Habbo Hotel, Under the Mask: Perspectives on the Gamer Conference, the Research Institute for Media, Art and Design, University of Bedfordshire.

Griffiths, M., Light, B. and McGarrie (2008) Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Unanticipated Directions in Social Network Site Development, European Conference on IS, Galway, Ireland.

Griffiths, M and Light, B. (2007) 'Risky Business: when a CRM vendor masqueraded as an ERP specialist', 15th European Conference in Information Systems, University of St Gallen,, Switzerland, 07th-09th June 2007

Griffiths, M. and Moore, K. (2007). 'Gendered Processes of Leaving the ICT Industry: Co-Producing and Understanding 'Significant Events', 5th International Gender, Work and Organisation Conference, University of Keele, 27th-29th June.

Griffiths, M., Adam. A., Burns, B., and Richardson, H. (2007). 'Disappearing from the Knowledge Based Economy? Women moving from Technology-oriented to Human-oriented knowledge work', 5th International Gender, Work and Organisation Conference, University of Keele, 27th-29th June

Griffiths, M. and Light, B. (2006). "A Field Study of the use of Metaphors to Overcome Resistance to IS Related Organisational Change', UKAIS Conference University of Gloucestershire, 10th-12th April 2006.

Griffiths, M and Light, B. (2006) 'User Resistance Strategies and the Problems of Blanket Prescriptions: A case Study of Resistance Success', 14th European Conference in Information Systems, IT University of Goteborg, Sweden, 12th-15th June 2006

Adam, A., Griffiths, M., Keogh, C., Moore, K., Richardson, H and Tattersall, A. (2006) 'Gender and technology trouble: gendered identities in the IT workplace' ESRC funded seminar series: 'Gendering the knowledge economy' Lancaster March 2006 (presented by Professor Adam).
Moore, K., Griffiths, M., Richardson, H., (2005) "Gender on the Agenda: flexible working and work-life balance in the UK ICT industry', 6th International Women in Computing (WIC) Conference 14-15 July 2005, University of Greenwich London UK.
Moore, K., Griffiths, M. and Richardson, H. (2005) 'Moving In, Moving Up Moving Out: A Survey of Women in ICT', Symposium on Gender and ICT: Working for Change, February 2005, UMIST, Manchester, UK.
Moore, K. and Griffiths, M. (2005). "Gendered Futures? Women, the ICT Workplace, and Stories of the Future', 4th International Gender, Work and Organisation Conference, University of Keele, 22nd-24th June 2005.

Conferences Chairs

Conference Chair and Organiser: The WINIT International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Gender, Technology and the ICT Workplace, held at the University of Salford on Tuesday 21st March 2006.

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