An Exploration of Dualisms in Female Perceptions of IT Work

Abstract

Introduction This paper examines the perceptions of in the IT industry as expressed in their discourse about IT work. Giddens' structuration theory is used to illuminate how construct and express their everyday experiences in this very competitive, declining female workforce. In particular, Giddens' notions of dualisms, routinisation and ontological security have provided a different perspective on women's perceptions of their work. The research data was collected primarily through interviews with female IT Professionals, and a small number of male IT Professionals and is part of an ongoing project (WinIT), commenced in 1995, that seeks to understand the declining female participation in IT education and work (von Hellens & Nielsen, 2001). Research work is continuing on the construction of female identities and the question of gender differences in IT work (Anthias, 1999; Nielsen, von Hellens & Beekhuyzen 2004). The declining participation of in the IT industry is a complex issue and there is now a considerable body of research literature; for example, see the review by Ahuja (2002). There has been a small, though noticeable, rise in female participation in the traditionally male-dominated professions of science, engineering and medicine. However, there has not been a corresponding trend in the information technology sector. At the end of 1999 represented just 29 percent of the workforce in the US technology sector, according to a study by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (2000). That is down from 40 percent of the workforce in 1986. By the start of the last decade, the proportion of females in the IT workforce was beginning to decline in most western countries (von Hellens, Pringle, Nielsen, & Greenhill, 2000). This is despite the idea that women may prove to be a key resource of skilled technology workers for International IT markets (Maitland, 2001). The WinIT research carried out to this point has sought to develop an understanding of complexity and social embededness of the problem of IT recruitment. Particularly, the research has focused on the cultural and gender factors affecting female recruitment (von Hellens & Nielsen, 2001). A conceptual model of the identified factors was developed and such an approach was found to be useful in examining the situation with relation to high school students and first year university students (Nielsen, von Hellens, Pringle & Greenhill, 1999). The research considers factors such as media representations of IT, peer, school and parental influences. Both male and female students lacked information about IT work and education and did not demonstrate any understanding about the nature of IT work. Overwhelmingly the students perceived IT as a masculinised domain and the female students mainly saw IT courses as boring and difficult. Our more recent research has focused on working in the IT industry and IT academia, where the significance of informed choice is more evident (Pringle, Nielsen, von Hellens, Greenhill & Parfitt, 2000; Trauth, Nielsen & von Hellens, 2003; von Hellens et al., 2000). These have resisted in some way the influences that discourage young from entering IT and have persisted in developing their IT careers. This paper presents early attempts to reexamine texts of professional women's interviews using some concepts from structuration theory. These concepts were initially established as relevant through a rereading of the interviews. Until 1999, the first and second authors of this paper (the primary researchers of WinIT) had been primarily focusing the WinIT project on university and high school students. In 1999, the WinIT research was extended to cover female IT professionals and initial results were published (Pringle et al. 2000; von Hellens et al., 2000). In collaboration with Professor Eileen Trauth in 2000, the research focus further expanded to include more interviews with professional in IT. …