Women in the IT workplace : learnings for managers

This paper discusses the experiences of women working in the Australian IT workforce. With increasing demand for information technology professionals, organisations need to both attract the best qualified people as well as keep those they already have. In western developed countries in recent years we have seen a decline in women's participation in the IT workforce. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that most IT workplaces are male dominated which many women find less comfortable than more gender balanced workplaces. Based on survey responses and interviews with Australian women working in IT, our research explored women's lived experiences. We found that women continue to find the environment of their workplaces challenging yet report that they enjoy working as IT professionals. Further we identified what would make a difference to women's working lives to ensure they stay and advance in the IT profession. If we are to keep women in the IT workforce we need to be aware of the challenges women face and begin to address these challenges by providing mechanisms to better support women

Faculty Agency: Departmental contexts that matter in faculty careers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the organizational factors that influence faculty sense of agency in their professional lives and whether the relationship between organizational factors and faculty agency manifests differently by gender. Past literature on faculty has largely taken an approach that was termed a "narrative of constraint," focusing on the challenges that faculty face in modern academe, such as increased academic capitalism, striving, and new technologies (O'Meara, Terosky, & Neumann, 2008; Schuster & Finkelstein, 2006). More recently, certain scholars sought to understand what keeps faculty satisfied and thriving in a higher education context with multiple challenges (Baez, 2000a; Neumann, Terosky, & Schell, 2006; O'Meara, Terosky, & Neumann, 2008). The construct of agency is a powerful perspective to uncover how faculty navigate academe and succeed in their own goals. Guided by the O'Meara, Campbell, and Terosky (2011) framework on agency in faculty professional lives, this study used Structural Equation Modeling to investigate which organizational factors (perceptions of tenure and promotion process, work-life climate, transparency, person-department fit, professional development resources, and collegiality) influenced faculty agency perspective and agency behavior and whether agency was associated with important faculty outcomes, such as intent to stay, satisfaction, and productivity. Then, this studied investigated whether the resulting model differed by gender. Results showed that work-life climate and person-department fit had a positive direct influence on agency perspective and a positive indirect influence on agency behavior. Professional development resources had a positive influence on agency perspective, but a negligible influence on agency behavior. Results also showed a very large effect of agency perspective on agency behavior. The invariance test by gender demonstrated that the relationships between organizational factors and faculty sense of agency were the same for men and women. This study illustrated the importance of departmental contexts in faculty professional lives, regardless of gender. It has important implications for administrators regarding departmental role in faculty agency, and also contributes to the continued development of a theoretical framework on faculty agency

Panel: ICT-enabled global work - Past, present, and future

In spite of the economic downturn, demographic factors are expected to continue to produce a labour shortage particularly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. In Canada, the sector has signaled that critical skills shortages exist in certain areas although the extent of these shortages is the subject of much debate. While economists have suggested that by the year 2011, all labor force growth in Canada will come from immigration, research has shown that immigrants often face barriers to full employment. Similarly, women are under-represented in ICT and face a range of barriers to employment and advancement. Increasingly, both government and industry have asserted that more effective “management of diversity” could help alleviate the skills shortage. To date, research has focused on barriers to entering the workplace but less has focused career satisfaction even though there is evidence to suggest that these may have significant impact on employee retention and productivity. The role of demographic factors is complex. For example, in Canada, while all immigrants are not visible minorities and all visible minorities are not immigrants; recent immigrants are more likely to be visible minorities. In addition, the intersection of variables, such as gender and visible minority status, complicates the analysis. Our study examines demographic factors affecting career satisfaction among 7110 managers with a minimum of 10 years experience in nine large Canadian companies in the Information Communications and Technology Sector. We found that the gap between visible minorities and white/Caucasian respondents in perceptions of career satisfaction and factors affecting it, to be larger than the gap in perceptions of male and female respondents. More work is needed to address these issues if the ICT Sector is to effectively deal with the skills shortage

Changing More Than the Plumbing: Integrating Women in Management into the Management and Organizational Behavior Classes

This article addresses the integration of women and gender differences into management and organizational behavior (OB) courses in two major ways: through modifications of course content and adaptations of the class process. Emphasis is placed on providing specific suggestions for changing not only the "plumbing" of the course (e.g., use of exercises, cases, and examples), but for dealing with problems that may arise when changing the teaching process itself (e.g., interactions among students, interactions between teacher and students)

Does Culture Matter? A Study of Cultural Influences on the Success of Women in IT

This paper discusses cultural influences on the success of women in Information Technology (IT) careers that emerged from 38 interviews with career women in Southern California. Interviews, conducted in 2008, lasted 60-90 minutes each. The women’s career stories reflect on comparable experiences with organizational and workgroup cultures, as well as occupational cultures and subcultures. Except for primarily female organizations, “old-boy” culture prevails at the upper levels of most organizations. Women who have climbed to those levels still feel like outsiders. Women complained about “old-school” occupational cultures, but they valued trust in their workgroup cultures, when and where that exists. “Token” women often experienced the most difficulties

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) In Higher Education From The Perspective Of Female Students: An Institutional Ethnography

A persistent disadvantage for females is systemically embedded in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in postsecondary institutions. As a result, undergraduate women majoring in STEM fields face a uniquely difficult path; yet, for the most part, recommendations made and supported in the literature have focused on recruitment of women to STEM fields or on ways to make women more successful and comfortable in their STEM major. These recommendations have so far proved to be insufficient to remedy a gender gap and serve to replicate the existing male hierarchy. In order to truly make the STEM classroom one in which women are welcome and comfortable and to challenge the existing social and scientific systems, it is necessary to explore and understand the social and political implications embedded within teaching and learning choices. This institutional ethnography addresses that gap. The purpose of this study was to uncover and describe the institutional practices of STEM education at a Midwest research university (MRU) from the standpoint of female undergraduate students. Using the framework of feminist standpoint theory, this study explored the everyday “work” of female undergraduate STEM students to provide a unique perspective on the STEM education teaching and learning environment. Data collection began with in-depth interviews with female undergraduate math and physics students. As the institutional processes shaping undergraduate participant experiences were identified, subsequent data collection included classroom observations, additional interviews with students and faculty, and analysis of the texts that mediate these processes (e.g., syllabi and student handbooks). Data analysis followed Carspecken’s process of ethnographic data analysis that began with low-level coding, followed by high-level coding, and concluded by pulling codes together through the creation of themes. Analysis of data led to three key findings. First, undergraduate participants reported being challenged by difficult and intimidating aspects of the teaching and learning environment. Second, undergraduate participants reported challenges meeting some of the characteristics of successful math and physics students (e.g., taking risks, asking questions, putting school first) and preferred a collectivistic environment. Third, participants described challenges from conflicting STEM academic expectations and institutional policies, which made it harder for them to meet STEM expectations. Findings indicate that efforts to reduce the “chilly” climate have been unsuccessful, largely because discourses that motivate the chilly climate have not changed. Those discourses are evidence of a masculine STEM institution, which also creates a male ideal that female students are expected to meet, further exacerbating their discomfort in the STEM environment. The masculinized nature of a STEM institution is reinforced by neoliberal policies that emphasize the importance of meeting gendered ideal STEM student characteristics. The result is that while women persist, they face stress, anxiety, and discomfort. Recommendations to improve the chilly climate include: revising the STEM institution from one that is masculine to one that is inclusive of women; and, to create a STEM educational environment that supports, validates, and gives women an equal voice

Work-Life Balance of Tenured and Tenure-Track Women Engineering Professors

Balancing the needs of family with career ambitions is often challenging for women who pursue science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers, particularly in academia. In these male-dominated workplaces, few incentives exist for women who decide to manage both work and family. In this basic qualitative research study, a modified approach combining in-depth interviewing with life-history interviewing was used to examine the work-life balance experiences of 12 tenured and tenure-track women engineering faculty who have children. The research question addressed participants\u27 perceptions of engineering academia and experiences regarding family formation, child-raising, and the tenure process. Data were analyzed using the constant comparison method. The conceptual lens consisted of identity formation, feminine ethic of care, procedural knowing, and social learning. Four themes or key findings surfaced from this study: Participants experienced gender stereotyping in engineering academia, participants recognized overlap between the tenure and biological clocks, participants expressed a default arrangement in assuming the burden of childcare, and participants revealed that work-life balance is a false concept. The most significant finding was that the notion of work-life balance was inconsistent with participants\u27 experiences with managing childcare and career; they described their experiences to be more about work-life integration. Implications for positive social change include improving gender diversity and the representation of women in engineering academia. Senior leaders and administrators at institutions of higher education may use study findings, for instance, to undertake program reform to recruit more women into engineering academia

The Status of Women in STEM in Higher Education: A Review of the Literature 2007–2017

Increased efforts to diversify science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States have drastically increased the number of studies offering insight into the experiences of women in STEM programs in higher education. This paper presents a thematic review of the literature regarding their status from 2007 to 2017 including journals, trade magazines, theses, and dissertations. It focuses on areas of recruitment, retention, barriers, and faculty issues. Stereotypes, biases, campus culture, classroom experiences, identity, and sense of belonging are also explored. The author additionally identifies gaps and suggests related areas for new research as well as implications for librarians

The Cultural Construction of Diverse Other(s): A Discourse Analysis of Institutional Policy

Institutions of higher education are tasked with grappling with their long histories of exclusion and inequality. As more members of historically marginalized groups gain access to higher education, colleges and universities strive to create more equitable environments within their walls and to produce equity-minded democratic citizens. These institutions turn to policy to help them achieve these ends. These policies often emphasize diversity—a multivalent concept that often simply means difference, but also serves as a stand-in for the policy performances produced by institutions as they attempt create equitable and just campuses. Diversity’s multivocality inspires the main question that this study answers: What are we talking about when we talk about diversity? In answering this question, this study grapples with the tension between the perceived inefficacy and insufficiency of diversity and equity policy and its continued use and importance by focusing on language. Using policy discourse analysis, a poststructuralism-inspired research methodology, this dissertation explores discourses about diversity and their place in the institutional culture at one public, research university in the northeastern United States. Documents analyzed include institutional policies, strategic plans, and other official documents, such as union contracts. This study found that certain images, problems, and solutions related to diversity function discursively to create a Diverse Other. This study also identified the following discourses that shape diversity rhetoric, diversity work, and perceptions of the Diverse Other: a) the discourse of access; b) the discourse of institutional citizenship; c) the discourse of appropriation; and d) the discourse of bureaucracy. Taken together, these findings suggest that diversity work is widespread, but superficially embedded, in the institutional culture of the institution in question. This study also suggests that the institution engages in complex non-performative gestures that display a commitment to diversity, but ultimately undermine the concept’s transformative possibilities. Additionally, implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed

Black Women Community College Professors’ Perceptions of Relational Mentoring and Achieving Tenure

This interpretative phenomenological study used theoretical and conceptual frameworks based on critical race theory and relational cultural theory. The purpose was to analyze and understand the perceptions of seven tenured Black women community college professors regarding relational mentoring, navigating barriers, and achieving tenure at a large public university system in the northeastern United States. The underrepresentation of Black women faculty members can be attributed to factors that affect the tenure process, including: gendered racism, social isolation, unreceptive and alienating campus climates, lack of access to research opportunities, discredited scholarly research, increased teaching and service committee assignments, and lack of mentoring. Based on the findings of this study, mentoring and networking programs can help to address and eliminate barriers, and provide support and access to Black women community college faculty members, as well as contribute to the recruitment and retention of minority faculty members. For institutional leaders, this research offers insight into the plight of Black women community college professors as they navigate a tenure process that represents institutional and organizational norms that are entrenched in systemic racism and sexism