What Women IT Professionals Want from Their Work

Abstract

Articles in the popular IT press that address the underrepresentation of women often claim that women IT professionals differ from their male counterparts in what they desire from jobs, suggesting that special understanding of women’s work-related values is required to improve their recruitment and retention (e.g., Bentsen, 2000; Gotcher, 1999; Paul, 2001). Although a great deal of research has been conducted on possible value differences that may affect women’s and girls’ attraction to IT as a career choice, there is relatively little empirical research showing that women actually do differ significantly from similarly trained men in the importance they place on particular qualities of work. The tradeoffs IT workers may make across desired attributes and the challenges they face in achieving career goals, however, are likely to show differences along gender lines. More methodologically-rigorous and practically-oriented research in job attribute preferences could help organizations make the changes in job design and personnel policies most likely to increase the representation of women in IT