Abstract
Information technology (IT) is vitally important to many organizations, including libraries. Yet a review of employment statistics and a citation analysis show that men make up the majority of the IT workforce, in libraries and in the broader workforce. Research from sociology, psychology, and women’s studies highlights the organizational and social issues that inhibit women. Understanding why women are less evident in library IT positions will help inform measures to remedy the gender disparity.
Highlights
Information technology (IT) is vitally important to many organizations, including libraries
Among the numbers are those showing that computer and information science fields include only 519,700 females and slightly more than 1,360,000 males in 2003.2 In the same occupational fields, men earned a median of $74,000 while women earn $63,000.3 the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) statistics from 2004 to 2008 show that men were more often employed as the heads of computer systems departments within libraries
With the exception of 2004–5, female computer department heads were paid less than their male counterparts, despite the fact that they had more years of experience
Summary
Information technology (IT) is vitally important to many organizations, including libraries. Information technology (IT) has become vitally important to the operation of the organization. A complex series of social and cultural biases inhibits women from participating in technology both in the library and in the larger workforce. Studies and statistics from the broader IT fields highlight discrepancies between the compensation, managerial level, and occupational roles of men and women.[1] Among the numbers are those showing that computer and information science fields include only 519,700 females and slightly more than 1,360,000 males in 2003.2 In the same occupational fields, men earned a median of $74,000 while women earn $63,000.3 the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) statistics from 2004 to 2008 show that men were more often employed as the heads of computer systems departments within libraries.
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