Abstract
Though yet partly unexplored, Digital Do-It-Yourself (DiDIY) is both an objective phenomenon that can be investigated from the point of view of its output and a subjective phenomenon that shapes individual behaviors and can be analyzed from the perspective of competences, motivations and social relationships. DiDIY is a complex socio-technical phenomenon that heavily impacts on organizations. Following recent research paths aimed at defining the subjective side of DiDIY, this research focuses on the gendered DiDIYer’s profile. Female DiDIYers’ personal characteristics seem to confirm previous studies dealing with the general DiDIYer’s profile (Guerini and Minelli, 2018). They are digitally literate and aware of their skills, curious and eager to innovate. Proud and conscious of their potential contribution to the improvement of their lives and their workplace, open to professional and personal challenges, they qualify themselves as expert amateur, not just as pure technology adopters. Female DiDIYers are involved in organic and participative cultures and their roles are characterised by knowledge sharing and creation, also through communities of practice. Female DiDIY is concentrated in complex roles, which link the organization to the external environment, being intrinsically autonomous in their expression and far from clerical activities.
