Current Status of Women in the Information Technology Field
Abstract
Information technology (IT) has become a popular stage in the working environment due to its overall importance in keeping companies competitive and successful. This is due to information technology being moved from a strictly supporting role in the back office to a position of major strategic importance. The technology field has attracted many qualified candidates including women, who have found themselves among many male contenders. Even though these women were at first attracted to the IT field because of such factors as the number of positions available and high salaries, they were later deterred because of the predominant male culture. This research will study further into the issue of women in the IT working world today and determine if factors such as the glass ceiling, equal pay, family obligations, and education have recently changed.
Current Status of Women in the Information Technology Field
Information technology is used widely throughout the world today in such capacities as programming, networking, E-Commerce, and instant communication. In fact, many companies throughout the world have found that in order to have a competitive advantage in the business world, these corporations need to have the latest version of essential technologies to remain prosperous and successful. Because of this factor, many professionals have been drawn to this field knowing that it promised not only better opportunities, but higher salaries. According to the Information Technology Association of American (ITAA), statistics of women working the IT world has dropped from 41% to 35% between 1996 and 2002 (Kaminski & Reilly, 2004). Furthermore, a recent survey indicated that men outnumbered women in IT leadership positions by six to one (Kurtz, 2003). With all the hype concerning women's equality in the workplace, why has this not changed in the IT field?
Glass Ceiling
Many books have been written about the glass ceiling phenomenon as it deals with women in the working environment and how they are accepted in the corporate culture. The problem encountered by the glass ceiling is evidenced when these corporate women want to be promoted to a higher position within the company, but due to attitudes regarding gender and organizational barriers, it does not happen. Even though these women have the necessary qualifications pertaining to education and background, they still meet major obstacles, and numbers promoted to executive positions are limited.
To help alleviate this problem, former President Bush created the Civil Rights Act of 1991 that established the Glass Ceiling Commission (Dingell & Maloney, 2002) . The 21 member commission was appointed by President Bush and managed by the Secretary of Labor. The Commission's main goal was to enforce policies and procedures that would help women and minorities promote employment opportunities. Even though the commission has helped women much in the working environment, many are still struggling to get recognized and promoted within their company. Dingell and Maloney showed that women were worse off when considering salary and number of women in top executive positions in 2000 then they were in 1995. In this time span, the salary gap between the two genders became even more extensive. More research is being done in this area to determine why this fact is true, but basically, the authors stated that with the large emergence of IT managerial positions, women may not have the qualifications to fulfill them.
Equal Pay
Another issue that has been addressed quite frequently is the comparison of gender salaries in the IT field. A recent study showed that salaries of top women executives in the IT field earned 9% lower than that of men with similar background and education (Kaminski & Reilly, 2004). This figure is especially true if both genders are working parents. Also, the National Science Foundation stated that a $13,200 salary gap existed between men and women with both having science and engineering doctorate degrees (Lemons & Parzinger, 2001). These figures clearly show that women are not being paid equally when compared to men working in the same position and having the same background and education.
Family Obligations
Women may experience high stress in IT-related positions, such as working late, always being on call to solve any technical issues, constant travel, and family obligations that women mostly fulfill (Ahuja, 2002). Another problem that may prevent women from succeeding in the IT field is the constant training that one has to undergo due to the ever changing transformations in IT. Technology is constantly changing, and because of this factor, IT professionals need to keep abreast of its existence in order to maintain marketable skills. This can be accomplished by constant training or retraining in innovative technologies. Appropriate training may involve traveling to other cities and may possibly occur on a weekly basis. Unfortunately for women fulfilling a maternal role, this is time away from the family and may cause a work-family conflict.
Recent research has shown that most organizations do not provide a flexible enough schedule to accommodate the needs of men or women in dual-career marriages. The study revealed that women are more negatively affected by the lack of flexibility in IT working environments than men in the same situation since the women are dealing with dual-career marriages more frequently (Ahuja, 2002).
Education
Education in the IT field is a substantial reason many women do not pursue a technology career since the National Science Foundation study found this gender usually takes fewer elevated math and science classes in high school classes required for anyone in the IT field (Lemons & Parzinger, 2001). This factor is possibly due to parental encouragement for little girls to be caregivers, whereas boys are taught to be aggressive and strong. In fact, many women were taught that their place is more suitable in the home than the work environment. Unfortunately, these roles are carried over into the working environment where many women believe they would not be accepted, especially in the IT field where high skill set is required (Lemons & Parzinger, 2001).
Recently, Smith did a study in the corporate culture of the IT field and found that the women's role in the workplace include four distinctive roles--“mother, confidante, seductress, and pet” (Lemons & Parzinger, 2001, p. 7), which was based on stereotyped roles in many organizations today. In fact, if these women did not fall into any of these roles, they were considered abnormal and ignored overall. Because of these factors, many women are afraid to break the mold and progress in a field that is dominated by males since they feel that their role and acceptance in society is more important.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this research studied current issues dealing with the status of women in the IT field today. The topics included the glass ceiling, equal pay, family obligations, and education. Overall, it was found that not much has changed as to the women's role in the IT field in the last few years due to such factors as male dominance, corporate culture, work-family conflicts, and finally, education. Even though many women have entered this challenging field, numerous have left to pursue different careers due to the stress intrinsic to this position. Also, many women have found that in order to fulfill their predominant role in the household and be accepted in society, a more low key and less stressful position would be desirable.
References
Ahuja, M. K. (2002). Women in the information technology profession: A literature review, synthesis and research agenda. European Journal of Information Systems, 11 (1), 20-39. Retrieved February 10, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Dingell, J., & Maloney, C. (2002). A new look through the looking gGlass: Where are the women? Retrieved February 12, 2006, from http://www.house.gov/maloney/issues/womenscaucus/glassceili ng.pdf#search='glass%20ceiling'
Kaminski, J. A., & Reilly, A. H. (2004). Career development of women in information technology. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal, 69 (4), 20-30. Retrieved February 10, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Kurtz, J. A. (2003). Mother of invention: Women in technology. Indiana Business Review, 78 (3), 1.
Lemons, M. A., & Parzinger, M. J. (2001). Designing women: A qualitative study of the glass ceiling for women in technology. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal, 66 (2), 4–11. Retrieved February 10, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Biography
Dr. Eggersman currently has her Bachelor of Science in Information System from Kennesaw State University, 1998; Masters of Science from University of Phoenix, 2002 in Computer Information Systems; and Ph.D. from Capella University in Organization and Management specializing in IT Management, 2006. She has been in the computer field for 20+ years and worked for three major companies: IBM, HP, and Verizon in various IT positions. She presently teaches computer and business management courses for several colleges and universities.
