Information Technology Reference
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A number of factors were identified that influence the careers of women in IS/IT work-
places. One significant factor was that of societal expectation. While this was acknow-
ledged as changing, it can still place considerable pressure on women who are attempting
to balance work and family in pursuit of a career; the requirement to be a supermum.
The findings have shown that support was crucial for the women in their career endeav-
ours. However, it became evident from the transcripts that sometimes the extent of this
support was less than ideal. The example quoted from participant #4 supports this view.
While she acknowledged the support of her husband, there was still an expectation that
she was responsible for going home to make dinner. Potentially this could imply that
while the husband was prepared to be supportive, societal expectation was still influential
in that there remained in his mind a clear division of labour on the basis of gender.
The women contributing to this research were a highly intelligent group holding tertiary
qualifications, not necessarily in IS/IT, but in mathematics, physics or science. They
were willing and interested to take part in this research even though initially they were
unclear about their role within IS. As highlighted in the findings, the serendipitiy sub-
theme 'outlook' was arguably the most exciting result in the research. While a particular
core skill set was not found among the participants, when those they had were combined
with a positive outlook, the women, as individuals, were able to use adaptive behaviours
to succeed and thrive in what was often a discriminatory work environment. The women
readily acknowledged that they were a minority in the IS/IT industry with many of the
participants dismissing the male culture dominance as of no consequence.
Conclusions
A research approach that enables the researcher to explore, in some depth, the perspective
of each female research participant and, as a consequence, offer some insights into the
declining gender balance in the IS field, offers significant benefits.
Adopting a feminist research approach has enabled the researcher to:
1. develop and establish a rapport with the participants to a level and depth that
would be difficult with alternative approaches; first in a convivial social situation
and then on a personal one-on-one basis;
2. inform the research process based on her own experience and to extend and explore
issues with participants based upon that experience, resulting in richer data and a
greater insight into the research problem; and
3. gain a richer and more detailed insight into the research problem through the ex-
plicit adoption of a research approach that supports women in challenging and
confronting a situation that requires social change.
This paper has provided an example of research conducted using a feminist approach
and qualitative research methods to demonstrate that it is a viable alternative in IS gender
research. The approach was beneficial in conducting this research as it enabled the re-
searcher to explore the research problem more fully and in greater depth. The individual
women participants were given a voice and as a group their combined wisdom was illu-
minating. However, as acknowledged at the beginning of this paper, due to the explor-
atory nature of the research and the nature of the issues investigated, little if any imme-
diate change is likely to occur as a direct result of this study.
Nevertheless, perhaps now the time is right for researchers studying gender issues
within IS to consider potentially useful alternative approaches to the more conventional
ways. The worsening gender imbalance in the IS/IT discipline demands new and innov-
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