Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT) Identity: An Integrative Theory to Explain Gender Gap in IT

Despite the fact that women constitute about half (46.6%) of the United States workforce, the proportion of women in computer science and information technology (CSIT) careers has been declining. From a high of 40% in 1986, it dropped to 29% in 1996, and further declined to about 20% in 2004 according to the Information Technology Association of America (Ramsey and McCorduck, 2005). Although outsourcing and economic downturn have been initial reasons for the general decline in CSIT jobs within the U.S., a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the overall employment of computer network, systems, and database administrators is projected to increase by 30 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations. In addition, this occupation will add 286,600 new jobs over that period (BLS, 2011). While women are realizing parity in other career paths, the continuing decline of women in CSIT professions is troubling and a cause for concern. Studies have shown that diverse teams, including gender diversity, that are well managed tend to produce better solutions than teams that are homogeneous in nature (Johnson, 1998). Hence, efforts to understand the factors that affect this disparity in the computing field is important so appropriate intervention mechanisms can be put in place to improve the representation of women in CSIT.