IT-related Gender issues: A literature review and initial local investigation (original) (raw)

Gender Issues in Information Technology

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.

Women in Information Technology: Its Challenges and Issues

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.

Information technology and the gender factor

Proceedings of the 1995 ACM SIGCPR conference on Supporting teams, groups, and learning inside and outside the IS function reinventing IS, 1995

It is posited that computer systems will be more effective if women are represented equally in the design teams, project steering committees, and at the upper echelons of IS management. A model of barriers faced by women in the field of 'Information Technology is presented. Three distinct life-stages of early education, career-choices and career advancement are analyzed. At each stage, effects of social and structural factors, which may act as barriers are identified and discussed. Interaction of social and structural factors at each stage is discussed. Implications for management are outlined.

Addressing the IT skills crisis (panel session): gender and the IT profession

2000

At the same time that unprecedented opportunity exists for IT professionals around the world, the field is experiencing an IT skills crisis that stems from the shortage of qualified IT professionals. It is, therefore, ironic that despite significant growth in the IT professions, there remain segments of the population under-represented in IT. Among those under-represented in IT are women. In some countries there is evidence of declining participation by women in the IT profession. 1 The question on the minds of those concerned with IT human resources and the development of qualified IT professionals is: Why? A deeper understanding of this question is necessary for the development of appropriate IT human resource strategies. According to the National Science Foundation, the under-representation of women and minorities in the American IT workforce is sufficiently serious to warrant systematic research efforts to address this national problem (NSF 2000). The panel addresses this issue by presenting the results of current research that represents three different theoretical perspectives on gender and IT. These different viewpoints on gender are reflected in recent literature about women's engagement with IT and participation in the IT field.

Women and Information Technology

Economic growth and technological advancement in India in the current decade is very impressive. Technology, market and development are considered gender-neutral. But there is pronounced urban bias furthering to women development in formal sector in the development process of India. Modernization of the economy or advancement of the society is a semi-myth for women. Women as a class are oppressed and subdued by the hegemony of social patriarchy. Economic growth has failed to improve the situation either. This can be highlighted from the 2004, the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) study set out to address these challenges. Since its inception, NCWIT has been compiling data from existing national sources and sponsoring research projects in an effort to understand why participation is declining and how companies can reclaim the technical talent of women and other underrepresented groups. 1 And a similar scenario is also witness in India. Gender concerns and discourses survive within the development bureaucracies dominated by men. Education and technology should ensure liberation and freedom of thought for all human beings. It should break gradually the shackles of tradition that binds women in the man-made goal. The gender issue should be delinked both from myopic economics and insensitive politics.

Women Working in the IT industry: Challenges for the New Millennium

Journal of Business & …, 2011

Despite increased female participation in the workforce, including some non traditional areas such as law and medicine, female participation in the Information Technology (IT) industry is declining. A longitudinal study (WinIT) commenced in 1995 has explored Australian student's and working women's perceptions and experiences, and the factors which have influenced them to enter and persist in the IT field. This paper reviews recent research and describes the latest results from the authors' study of professional women in the Australian IT industry, focusing on the contradictions in the way that women represent their experiences. These contradictions indicate that polarised views of gender in the IT workforce are being undermined, but also that IT personnel have difficulty reconciling their personal and work lives and coping with the rapid rate of change in the industry. The implications for human resources management in the volatile IT industry as well as some possible solutions to the problem are also discussed.

Gender and the Information Technology Workforce: Issues of Theory and Practice1

Despite increases of women in the labor force, females are largely underrepresented in the American IT workforce. Among the challenges that managers face in addressing the under representation of women in the IT workforce is the identification of an appropriate theory as a basis for understanding data about gender and IT in order to reverse the gender imbalance. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the managerial implications of theory choice when addressing the under representation of women in the IT workforce. We provide an overview of the three main theoretical perspectives, the essentialist theory, the social construction theory, and the individual differences theory of gender and IT, Gender and the Information Technolgy Workforce: Issues of Theory and Practice 19 Copyright © 2007, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.

Women in the information technology profession: a literature review, synthesis and research agenda

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.