Information technology and the gender factor

European Journal of Information Systems, 2002

Gender differences in IT careers appear to be affecting the competitiveness of companies globally. It is posited that given the current labor shortage in the IT industry, it has become more important than ever to reduce sources of leakage in the IT career paths of women. A model of barriers faced by women in the field of information technology is presented. Three distinct career stages of career choices, persistence and advancement are analyzed. At each stage, the effects of social and structural factors which may act as barriers are identified and discussed. Social factors include social expectations, work-family conflict and informal networks, while the structural factors are occupational culture, lack of role models and mentors, demographic composition and institutional structures. A proposed research agenda is offered. It is suggested that these social and structural factors as well as their interactions will result in turnover of women in IT.

ECIS 2011 Proceedings, 2011

The underrepresentation of women in IT is a research area that has received much attention in recent years. Extant research has examined many factors that contribute to and/or improve the widening gender gap. Review articles to date have focused on certain aspects of the field, eg, the pipeline (Gürer and Camp, 2001), secondary and post-secondary education (Sanders, 2005; Singh, Allen, Scheckler, and Darlington, 2007), and women in IT careers (Ahuja, 2002). There is a need for a comprehensive framework that ...

Despite the growing need for information technology (IT) workers, women are not stepping forward in significant numbers to take advantage of the career opportunities presented in the IT field. As a recent presidential report noted, "Women participate in both computer science and engineering at low rates for all degrees and subsequently in academia and industry" (President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, 1999). An important preliminary step in formulating strategies to encourage women to pursue IT careers may be to examine the reasons why some women have chosen such a career path. An analysis of the influences and experiences that informed their decisions may help shape the policies and approaches taken by educators, industry leaders, and policy makers who wish to expand women's career choices. It is the purpose of this study to take this preliminary step by analyzing the educational, social, and familial influences that have led some women to pursue IT careers.

2001 Annual Conference Proceedings

Women are under-represented in information technology (IT) disciplines, similar to physical sciences and engineering. With the rapid growth of IT and its profound impact on productivity and national economy, tremendous career opportunities in IT have emerged over the last few years. Furthermore, there is a shortage of IT workers, with the U.S. depending upon foreign workers to address the growing workforce needs. The gender equity in IT is critical not only for women, but also for the American society increasingly dependent on IT. In this paper, I examine the reasons for under-representation of women in IT-related disciplines in institutions of higher education.

Online Submission, 2007

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the workplace environment characteristics that hinder and assist the career progression of women in information technology (IT). The study examined the satisfaction with the career progression of the women in IT as well as why the women in IT like and dislike their careers. The major research method for this study was in-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews with a group of 25 women in IT.

Information Technology & People, 2005

Purpose -To develop a testable model for girls' career choices in technology fields based on past research and hypotheses about the future of the information technology (IT) workforce. Design/Methodology/Approach -Review and assimilation of literature from education, psychology, sociology, computer science, IT, and business in a model that identifies factors that can potentially influence a girl's choice towards or against IT careers. The factors are categorized into social factors (family, peers, and media), structural factors (computer use, teacher/counselor influence, same sex versus coeducational schools), and individual differences. The impact of culture on these various factors is also explored. Findings -The model indicates that parents, particularly fathers, are the key influencers of girls' choice of IT careers. Teachers and counselors provide little or no career direction.

2012

In recent years many countries in the world have adopted policies for greater equality in Information Technology. However worldwide, female enrolment in tertiary level science and technology(S &T)is less than male enrolment and also less than in other subjects (World Education Report,1995).In today's world of e-commerce and distance communication companies depend in technological and computer expertise at all employment levels. Therefore, job in Information Technology and related fields increased dramatically in recent years and this trend is expected to continue well into the futures. Information Technology has been playing in increasingly important role in the development of Nations. Experts believe that this century belongs to the power of knowledge and Information. On one side, the recent developments in Information Technology have drastically reduced the geographical barriers, while on the other side computers have enormously enhanced the capacity to accumulate and access information. The possibilities for information access are infinite. This "information society" has grown in the last one decade in leaps and bound breaking many existing paradigms and creating an image of indispensability in our lives.

2003

This paper looks at the employment situation with respect to positions filled by women in Information Technology professions. The study critically analyses the situation of women in Northern and Latin American countries as well as selected European, Asia-pacfic and African countries in the late 20 th century. It examines the status of women at the various organisational and occupational hierarchy in the IT sector , and highlights areas of concern in the hiring of women into more responsible positions.

2008

The under representation of women in the information technology (IT) workforce, coupled with increased cultural diversity emanating from the globalization of the IT sector, highlights a problem both for the research and the practice domains of the IT field. In an effort to contribute to these domains, this paper presents an analysis of cultural factors influencing the career choices of women in the IT workforce. A review of the literature on cultural factors suggests the need for both greater analysis of cultural influences on women in the IT workforce and more nuanced theorizing about gender and IT. Hence, we employ the individual differences theory of gender and IT as a theoretical lens for examining, in greater detail, the variation in ways that perceptions of women's roles in society that are embedded in a culture influence female IT career choices and how socio-cultural factors moderate these influences. In order to do so, we analyzed a qualitative data set of interviews with 200 women from four separate studies of women in the IT workforces in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. The themes that emerged from this analysis speak to the influence of cultural attitudes about maternity, childcare, parental care and working outside the home on a woman's choice of an IT career. Further, we saw evidence that additional socio-cultural factors served to add further variation to gendered cultural influences: gendered career norms, social class, economic opportunity, and gender stereotypes about aptitude. These results lend further empirical support to the emergent individual differences theory of gender and IT that endeavors to theorize within-gender variation with respect to issues related to gender and IT. They also point to areas where educational and workplace interventions can be enacted to address the under representation of women in the IT field.

RESEARCH PAPER, 2013

The contribution of information technology (IT) cannot be underscored in the current century. Information technology is driving everything and has reduced the whole world into a global village. There is a low participation of females in information technology as compared to males due to their gender and roles. Gender is a social construct defining differentiated roles of males and females. Gender equity is promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment for males and females. Acquisition and application of information technology requires that one creates time and has resources. At work places rarely do organizations spare time to train their human resources on information technology. This means one has to learn information technology during free time. People with more roles to perform outside their daily work tend to be disadvantaged and thus lag behind in information technology. In Africa, gender roles are clearly defined. Females play most of the family chores that eat into their time heavily. This affects their technological advancement. The paper seeks to examine how roles ascribed to gender affect their acquisition and use of information technology. It will also assess whether gender equity as advocated by affirmative action has had an impact in bridging the gap between men and women in information technology.