Purpose: This article provides an analysis of the gendering process in product innovation. Interwoven into this process is the encapsulation of a token position. The article expands and deepens tokenism theory through a discussion of gender in the innovation process. The article draws from recent and classical theories of gender, ranging from gendering approaches (Gherardi & Poggio, 2004) to Acker’s theory of gendered organisations and processes within organisations (Acker, 1992), and Moss Kanter’s tokenism theory (Kanter, 1977). The main objective of the article is to address this gap in the tokenism discussion and introduce a new concept of ‘processual tokenism’.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The article builds on an intensive single case study, using a narrative methodology and approach in the analysis of the case data. The primary data used in the narratives are drawn from interviews. The article also uses documents and reports as secondary data in the narrative construction. The approach used is theoretical, interpretative and qualitative.

Findings: The article provides a detailed narrative of the intertwined nature of the gender position in an organisation and the invention process. One of the outcomes is that the gendering of a product is triggered by tokenism, and that gendering of a product can also be interpreted as a deliberate and successful process. The article contributes to tokenism theorizing.

Research limitations/implications: The limitations of the article may relate to the specificity of the innovation process in the chemical industry, which may be different to innovation processes in other industrial fields.

Originality/Value: The article contributes to the theory of tokenism by providing an updated and extended version of tokenism and naming it as ‘processual tokenism’. Furthermore, the article contributes to the debates on gendered organisations by focusing on gendering through tokenism and the persistence of male dominance. Finally, the article contributes to gender theory by introducing the idea of analysing how the gendering of a product innovation takes place.

Key words: Intersectionality, Gender theory, Feminist theory, Narrative, Tokenism