Decoding gender in smart home research: a critical literature review

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Authors
Hamarowski, Bartosz
Frydrysiak, Sandra
Gruhlich, Julia
Andrš Fárová, Nina
Nyklová, Blanka
Monograph
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Date
2026-02-06
Publisher
Journal title
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
Issue
Volume
41
Pages
Pages
1439–1462
DOI
ISSN
1566-4910
ISSN of series
Weblink
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10901-026-10273-x
Access date
2026-02-06
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
Promoted as transformative of personal lifestyles and broader socio-environmental strategies, smart homes often deliver material change without disrupting entrenched social norms. As such, they tend to reinforce existing social structures instead of challenging or reforming them. This article presents the first cross-disciplinary critical review of 92 smart home publications to evaluate the extent to which gender has been meaningfully addressed in this field. Using qualitative content analysis across disciplines, four dominant analytical strands were identified, and only 19% of studies adopt constructivist or intersectional approaches to gender, while the majority treat it as a binary demographic variable. Only 12% of studies engage in discourse analysis to interrogate how smart home narratives reproduce heteronormative assumptions and gendered divisions of labour. Technical and quantitatively oriented research largely ignores gendered dynamics, reinforcing assumptions of neutrality in smart technology design. Authors argue that this lack of engagement with gender—as well as with intersecting categories such as race, class, and disability—limits the field’s conceptual richness and social responsiveness. The findings underscore the urgent need for more inclusive and reflective methodological frameworks and offer practical guidance for integrating gender-sensitive approaches into future smart home research, design, and policy.
Abstract other
Keywords PL
Keywords EN
Feminist technology studies
Gender
Literature review
Smart home
Smart technology
Keywords other
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 5. Gender Equality ,
SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities
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URI
https://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2565
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cc-by
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
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Hamarowski, B., Frydrysiak, S., Gruhlich, J. et al. Decoding gender in smart home research.pdf(1.54 MB)
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