I am a PhD student and my project focuses on the gendered nature of the signed language interpreting profession, with a specific focus on the international context. To date, not much attention has been paid to the topic of gender in relation to the profession, which is surprising as it is predominantly female. Apart from anecdotal accounts, research has been mainly focusing on gendered language and differences in interpreters’ performance. There have been speculations about the reasons why women interpreters outnumber men interpreters and about what the implications might be for the profession as well as for the deaf and hearing people interpreters work with. In general, professions that are numerically dominated by women are faced with issues concerning professional status and concerning men’s privilege and positions of leadership, which might also be the case for the interpreting profession. The study will look into this and will be mainly informed by gender and feminist studies.

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Research: In search of new clothes?