Article

The influence of environmental context on women in the IT workforce

Authors:

Eileen M. Trauth,

Jeria L. Quesenberry,

Benjamin YeoAuthors Info & Claims

SIGMIS CPR '05: Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGMIS CPR conference on Computer personnel research

Pages 24 - 31

https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055979

Published: 14 April 2005 Publication History

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Abstract

In an effort to better understand the under representation of women in the IT field, the focus of research has been on the collection and analysis of empirical data. However, there is also a need for appropriate theory to understand and explain that data. Toward this end, Trauth has engaged in a program of research directed at the articulation of an empirically-grounded theory to explain and predict the under representation of women in the IT field. Called The Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT, this theory argues that the under representation of women in IT is better accounted for by understanding the variation across women than by focusing on ascribed differences between men and women in stereotype. To this end, a set of constructs has been identified, including: personal data, shaping and influencing factors and environmental context. This set of constructs is being used as the interpretive vehicle in a multi-year study of the life histories of women IT professionals. The results, to date, have addressed the personal data, and shaping and influencing factors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the construct: environmental context. The results suggest that economic factors such as size of the information economy, household income and cost of living, and cultural factors such as attitudes and values regarding women, women working and women working in IT do exert an influence on the experience of women in the IT workforce. Thus, the data analysis presented in this paper serves to further supports this emerging theory of individual differences of gender and IT and its constructs.

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Alao ABrink RChigona WLwoga E(2022)Computer Technologies for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship Skills Capability and Improved EmployabilityDigital Transformation for Sustainability10.1007/978-3-031-15420-1_5(81-117)Online publication date: 2-Dec-2022
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Geneve A(2014)Women's Participation in the Australian Digital Content IndustryGender Considerations and Influence in the Digital Media and Gaming Industry10.4018/978-1-4666-6142-4.ch007(125-142)Online publication date: 2014
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-6142-4.ch007
Trauth ECain CJoshi KKvasny LBooth KAdya MHorton RHuang HQuesenberry J(2012)Embracing intersectionality in gender and IT career choice researchProceedings of the 50th annual conference on Computers and People Research10.1145/2214091.2214141(199-212)Online publication date: 31-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2214091.2214141
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Index Terms

The influence of environmental context on women in the IT workforce
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Computing / technology policy
  2. Professional topics

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Reviews

Reviewer: Vasant B. Kaujalgi

The information technology (IT) workforce has been a topic of study for a number of researchers, not only in the US, but also around the world. The authors of this paper concentrate on an empirically grounded theory to explain and predict the underrepresentation of women in the IT workforce. Generally, personal data, shaping, and influencing factors are considered by most of the researchers. This paper concentrates on the environmental context. The data analysis leads to the emerging theory of individual differences of gender and IT, with appropriate constraints. Environmental constructs consider cultural attributes and values, as well as geographic, economic, and public policy data. Data for this research was collected via open-ended interviews, lasting for about 90 minutes, with 57 female IT practitioners, between October 2002 and October 2004. The three regions of the study were Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, and the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina; and central Pennsylvania. Female practitioners from the three regions were asked questions about economic and cultural influences. The study indicates that geographical regions influence the female workforce in IT. The interviews in the Boston region indicated that there is no gender discrimination. The North Carolina region was characterized by the "Old South" and "New South" culture. In contrast, the Pennsylvania region showed the out-migration of young people. The theory developed by the researchers will be valuable for further study, even though this is their initial study. Given that IT is a global phenomenon, their research should be extended to India, China, and the Philippines. The references in the paper will be helpful for further research in this field. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Published In

SIGMIS CPR '05: Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGMIS CPR conference on Computer personnel research

April 2005

166 pages

ISBN:1595930116

DOI:10.1145/1055973

General Chair:
Mike Gallivan
Georgia State University, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Jo Ellen Moore
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, USA
,
Susan E. Yager
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, USA

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 14 April 2005

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SIGMIS-CPR05: ACM SIGCPR/SIGMIS 2005 Computer Personnel Research Conference

April 14 - 16, 2005

Georgia, Atlanta, USA

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Cited By

View all

Alao ABrink RChigona WLwoga E(2022)Computer Technologies for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship Skills Capability and Improved EmployabilityDigital Transformation for Sustainability10.1007/978-3-031-15420-1_5(81-117)Online publication date: 2-Dec-2022
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15420-1_5
Geneve A(2014)Women's Participation in the Australian Digital Content IndustryGender Considerations and Influence in the Digital Media and Gaming Industry10.4018/978-1-4666-6142-4.ch007(125-142)Online publication date: 2014
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-6142-4.ch007
Trauth ECain CJoshi KKvasny LBooth KAdya MHorton RHuang HQuesenberry J(2012)Embracing intersectionality in gender and IT career choice researchProceedings of the 50th annual conference on Computers and People Research10.1145/2214091.2214141(199-212)Online publication date: 31-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2214091.2214141
Gallivan MAdya MHorton RHuang HQuesenberry J(2012)Analyzing citation impact of IS research by women and menProceedings of the 50th annual conference on Computers and People Research10.1145/2214091.2214137(175-184)Online publication date: 31-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2214091.2214137
Trauth EQuesenberry JYeo B(2008)Environmental influences on gender in the IT workforceACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/1341971.134197539:1(8-32)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1341971.1341975
Howcroft DTrauth E(2008)The implications of a critical agenda in gender and IS researchInformation Systems Journal10.1111/j.1365-2575.2008.00294.x18:2(185-202)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2008
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2575.2008.00294.x
Levina NXin M(2007)Research Note---Comparing IT Workers' Compensation Across Country ContextsInformation Systems Research10.1287/isre.1070.012118:2(193-210)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2007
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Trauth EQuesenberry JHuang HShayo CKaiser KRyan T(2006)Cross-cultural influences on women in the IT workforceProceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGMIS CPR conference on computer personnel research: Forty four years of computer personnel research: achievements, challenges & the future10.1145/1125170.1125178(12-19)Online publication date: 13-Apr-2006
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Trauth EHowcroft D(2006)Critical empirical research in IS: an example of gender and the IT workforceInformation Technology & People10.1108/0959384061068985919:3(272-292)Online publication date: Jul-2006
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Quesenberry JTrauth E(2005)The Role of Ubiquitous Computing in Maintaining Work-Life Balance: Perspectives from Women in the Information Technology WorkforceDesigning Ubiquitous Information Environments: Socio-Technical Issues and Challenges10.1007/0-387-28918-6_6(43-55)Online publication date: 2005
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Index Terms

Recommendations

Cross-cultural influences on women in the IT workforce

Environmental influences on gender in the IT workforce

What do women want?: an investigation of career anchors among women in the IT workforce

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