Information technology sector in India and gender inclusivity

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to address the issue of gender inclusivity in the information technology (IT) sector of India. The main objective of the paper is to find out the factors influencing female participation in the IT industry. It proposes some policy initiatives to support involvement of women in adequate proportion in the workforce. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a unique set of data from 63 IT companies from three big cities of Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru and Kolkata. An ordered logit model is applied to find out the determinants of female absorption in the IT industry. ANOVA is used to study the variations between and within the IT industry of female labor force participation. Findings – Result reveals that the percentage and mobility of female employees in an organization does not depend on the turnover or the total number of skilled employees in the organization. It depends on the location. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the paper is that many IT companies do not want to reveal data about the percentage of female employees. If more companies could have been included, more accurate results could have been found. Practical implications – The study discusses the aspect of gender inclusivity in the IT sector as well as the impact of higher skill on gender. The paper proposes some policy initiatives which can increase the number of female employees in the IT sector. Originality/value – The study fulfills the need to know about the gender inclusivity aspect of the IT sector in India.