The role of women software communities in attracting more women to the software industry

Abstract

The women software communities, also known as women in tech communities, have increased their popularity during the past few years. The underrepresentation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) industry, together with the growing labour and skill shortage in the software industry, have both been major reasons why high-level decision makers have woken up to investigate the unbalanced gender division. The labour shortage is stated to be among the most significant reasons why software companies are not growing as fast as they wish. Therefore, new talents (and in this case, women) are expected by the industry. Universities are working hard to train new talents, governments are doing their share on the matter and now software companies have started to act on the cause all by themselves. However, the question is that what kind of role women software communities have in this labour and skill shortage picture?In this study, we examine the role of and need for the women software communities in attracting more women to the software industry. The empirical data is collected with an open internet survey (n=134) and the results highlight the importance of the women software communities as the low threshold inspiration actors and influencers to attract more women to the field. The results also emphasize the fact that women will benefit from peer support from other women, but when there is a need for more advanced trainings and events, gender limitation in participants is not needed.