Play It Till You Make It: The Potential of Playful Role Enactment to Foster Digital Agency

Research Background and Issues

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?
  The use of technology is influenced by gendered perceptions, where stereotypes about certain groups' abilities (especially women and older adults) limit their willingness and confidence to interact with technology, thereby hindering their digital agency. Current approaches to enhancing digital agency primarily focus on skill training but fail to adequately consider the embeddedness and contextual nature of agency within social relationships and environments. Moreover, existing strategies may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes rather than help affected individuals explore and develop their agency.

• Why is this issue important?
  Digital agency not only determines how people use technology but also influences how they participate in society and access opportunities. Ignoring gendered digital agency further entrenches gender inequality in technology fields and limits the social participation of specific groups (e.g., women and marginalized communities).

• Research Motivation and Related Work
  Previous research has predominantly focused on technical skills and a sense of control, neglecting the emotional, embodied, and social aspects of agency. This paper attempts to redefine digital agency from a critical, posthumanist perspective and explores alternative methods to challenge gendered digital agency concepts by integrating playful role-playing and "stereotype threat interventions" (STI).

Solutions

• What methods or solutions did the authors propose?
  The authors designed a workshop based on playful role-playing, placing participants in a sci-fi context to explore and question gender-related stereotypes. Specific role settings were combined with STI strategies to address stereotypes in gendered and technology-related domains.

• What are the innovative aspects of this solution?

  1. Integration of Role Design and STI: By assigning roles with mixed gendered traits (e.g., combining logical and design abilities), participants were encouraged to transcend traditional gender role boundaries.
  2. Sci-fi Context and Gamified Tasks: An immersive environment was created, making it easier for participants to explore and experiment with new identity roles.
  3. Contextualization and Reflexivity: Role-playing not only helped participants acquire technical skills but also provided a critical space for reflecting on their gendered perceptions and societal frameworks.

• What are the implementation steps and key technologies used?

  1. Quantitative Survey: Collected baseline data from 411 participants to analyze stereotype threats related to digital agency across different gender groups.
  2. Workshop Design and Co-creation: Collaboratively designed a series of task scenarios centered on physical computing and role-playing with participants.
  3. Role-playing and Task Completion Process: Participants were grouped and completed role-related tasks, such as programming robots and designing device appearances, while challenging scenarios (e.g., role restriction cards) encouraged teamwork.
  4. Qualitative Analysis: Observations and group interviews were used to extract key insights on the impact of role-playing on gendered agency.

Research Outcomes

• What specific outcomes were achieved?

  1. At the theoretical level, digital agency was proposed as an "embodied, relational, and contextual" phenomenon.
  2. At the empirical level, significant differences based on social gender (rather than biological sex) were identified, such as "androgynous groups" combining male and female traits being more susceptible to stereotype threats.
  3. A practical workshop framework was designed and validated, demonstrating how gamified role-playing can open new spaces for participants to explore gender diversity and agency.

• What advantages does it have compared to existing solutions?

  1. Deconstructing Stereotypes: Unlike traditional "skill enhancement" approaches, this method actively challenges gendered social norms.
  2. Incorporating Emotional and Sensory Experiences: Interactive and hands-on elements strengthened participants' emotional connection with technology.
  3. Detachment from Social Contexts: The sci-fi setting provided a safe space free from everyday stereotype pressures, allowing participants to experience agency from a new perspective.

• What were the experimental or evaluation results?

  1. Gendered differences in digital agency were primarily observed in technology-related fields rather than general control or self-efficacy.
  2. The workshop effectively fostered teamwork among participants, with many trying activities that defied their gender role stereotypes through role assignments.
  3. The sci-fi background added fun and immersion to the learning process, temporarily mitigating stereotypes.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  1. Limitations: Due to the comprehensive nature of the experimental design, it was difficult to isolate the effects of individual interventions (e.g., specific STI strategies). Additionally, the cultural context was predominantly Western, limiting the study's broader applicability.
  2. Future Directions: Explore the interaction between role settings and other social factors (e.g., age, race, social class). Further investigate the specific characteristics of "gendered digital agency" in technology fields and enhance explanatory power through multivariable analysis.

In summary, this paper provides profound insights and practical case studies on promoting digital agency and gender equality through playful role-playing strategies and theoretical innovations. It also outlines clear directions for future research.