De-gendering parents: Gender inclusion and standardised language in screen-level bureaucracy

Abstract

Swedish welfare organisations have a long history of promoting gender equality and inclusivity, involving implementation of more gender-inclusive language (e.g., non-gendered terminology). This study analysed the use of non/gendered expressions at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, as state policy is realised in conjunction with personalised service in textual interaction in screen-level bureaucracy. We drew on conversation analysis and membership categorisation analysis to analyse 378 email interactions between clients and social insurance officers, focusing on gendered institutional terminology and gendered person references. The findings suggest that social insurance officers avoided a heteronormative language, in line with Swedish official public language policy, but that a gender-neutral language may come at the cost of formality, standardisation, and de-personalisation. The study brings new knowledge on the ways in which street-level bureaucrats manage responsiveness and standardisation in digital text-based interaction with clients.