UNITED STATES, August 27, 2024 – GET Cities is excited to announce the release of a new report, False Choice: How Deep Narratives Reinforce Reductive Thinking in the Pursuit of Gender Equity in Tech. This comprehensive analysis delves into the powerful role that deep narratives play in shaping human consciousness, particularly within the tech sector’s ongoing quest for gender equity.

Narrative analysis is increasingly being used to dissect, examine, and understand the narratives that shape human consciousness, aiming to ensure that social change efforts intentionally promote positive narratives and  disrupt and replace harmful ones. In the context of gender equity in the tech industry, these narratives often reinforce exclusionary practices and maintain the status quo.

False Choice explores how two pervasive narratives in particular—binary thinking and individualism—have influenced society over time, deeply embedding themselves within media, history, contemporary civic moments, and tech culture. These narratives often oversimplify complex issues, reinforce a limited, either-or perspective on gender, and perpetuate a meritocracy that celebrates individual success at the expense of collective progress and well-being.

Scope of Research and Methodology

False Choice is grounded in a robust interdisciplinary approach and is backed by an extensive analysis of:

• 28,044 media articles across 20 years
• 3,208,225 social media posts over 2 years
• 251 peer practitioner websites
• 48 academic articles
• 1000 people surveyed for creative ad testing

These sources provided the data and insights needed to identify key narrative devices and develop a framework to understand them.

Framework for Understanding and Countering Harmful Narratives

This framework, available for social change practitioners to borrow from directly, is designed to help them analyze and challenge the narratives that are impeding progress in gender equity. By understanding how these narratives operate, the report argues, we can begin to craft new, competing narratives that foster a more inclusive and equitable tech sector.

“This project seeks to start a conversation around these particular narrative devices while also inviting other practitioners of gender equity in tech and social change more broadly to incorporate narrative analysis and change into their work,” explained Carley Mostar, Report Author and former Director of Marketing and Communications for GET Cities. 

A Call to Action: Picking Up Where GET Cities Leaves Off

While False Choice provides a detailed analysis of some of the narratives shaping gender equity in tech, it is just the beginning. The report’s creators invite social change leaders, practitioners, and organizations to build on their work. By integrating narrative analysis into social change work more broadly, we can uncover and challenge the deep-seated beliefs that shape our understanding of how oppressive systems self perpetuate, and we can work toward a more just and inclusive future.

Download the report here.

For more information please contact:
Carley Mostar
Report Author
Former Director of Marketing and Communications, GET Cities
Founder and Principal Narrative Strategist, Tandem Narratives
carley@tandemnarratives.com