Individual Inequality: Women’s Responses in the IT Profession

Among the challenges of gender and IT research is the identification of appropriate theories as a basis for understanding the under representation of women in the IT profession. In response to this need, the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT has been proposed by Trauth to focus on women as individuals, having distinct personalities, experiencing a range of socio-cultural influences, and thus exhibiting a range of responses to the social construction of IT. The purpose of this paper is to describe a research project aimed at testing this theory by investigating the particular ways that American female IT professionals are influenced by and react to the social shaping of both gender identity and IT. We begin by providing a brief background of this research project and an overview of the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT. Next we describe the research design and the status of data collection and analysis efforts to date. Finally, we summarize the current results of the research project and illustrate the ways in which the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT is manifested in the core and emerging data themes. In this discussion we demonstrate how the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT can be applied to better understand the issue of female inequality in the IT profession. Introduction Despite the significant growth of the IT profession in recent years, there remains a gender imbalance. In some countries there has even been a decline in participation of women in the IT profession. The question on the mind of everyone who is considering this topic is: Why? Statistics tell one story, however it is important to uncover the story beneath the statistics. Consequently, there is an interest on the part of researchers, educators, managers, and policy makers in better understanding the reasons for the female under representation in the IT profession. One of the research challenges in studying the under representation of women in the IT profession is the identification of an appropriate theory that serves as a basis for understanding and explaining this gender imbalance. There are two dominant theories in the gender literature that are used to explain the participation of women in the IT profession. The psychological explanation dichotomizes gender based upon the presumption of significant inherent differences between women and men. This explanation finds the causes of gender under representation in biology. The sociological explanation focuses on the social construction of IT as a male domain, which is interpreted as incompatible with the social construction of female identity. This explanation finds social structures to be the cause of gender under representation in the IT profession. Recently, a new theory has been proposed by Trauth (Trauth, 2002; Trauth et al., 2006; 2005; 2004) that focuses on individual differences among women as they relate to the needs and characteristics of IT work and the IT profession. The Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT focuses on women as individuals, having distinct personalities, experiencing a range of socio-cultural influences, and thus exhibiting a range of responses to the social construction of IT. Hence, this theory elucidates the differences within rather than between the sexes and examines issues at an individual rather than a group level of analysis. The purpose of this paper is to articulate a research project in the United States sponsored by the National Science Foundation (Grant Number EIA-0204246), which is