Glenda Shaw-Garlock

Papers

Total Citations

126

H-Index

About

Glenda Shaw-Garlock is a leading voice in the critical study of human-robot interaction, with a particular focus on how gender, design, and social norms shape our relationships with technology. Her foundational work, “Looking Forward to Sociable Robots” (2009, 100 citations), established her as a key thinker in anticipating the social and ethical implications of increasingly lifelike machines. Shaw-Garlock’s research interrogates the deep-seated assumptions embedded in robotic design, most notably in her influential chapter “Gendered by Design: Gender Codes in Social Robotics” (2017). Here, she reveals how utilitarian robots—such as domestic or service bots—are often anthropomorphized along stereotypical gender lines, raising critical questions about the reinforcement of social biases through technology. In “Loving Machines: Theorizing Human and Sociable-Technology Interaction” (2011, 20 citations), she further explores the emotional bonds humans form with sociable robots, challenging simplistic views of these relationships. By bridging feminist theory, science and technology studies, and robotics, Shaw-Garlock’s work has been essential for students and researchers seeking to understand the cultural and ethical dimensions of our robotic future.