a multicultural analysis of factors influencing career ... · pdf filea multicultural analysis...

Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4), 1-23, October-December 2008

A Multicultural Analysis ofFactors Influencing CareerChoice for Women in theInformation Technology

WorkforceEileen M. Trauth The Pennsylvania State University, USA

Jeria L. Quesenberry, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Haiyan Huang, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analysis of cultural/actors influencing the career choices of women in the ITworkforce. We employ the individual differences theory ofgender and IT as a theoretical lens to analyzea qualitative data set ofinterviews with 200 women in/our different countries. The themes that emergedfrom this analysis speak to the influence ofcultural attitudes about maternity, childcare, parental care andworking outside the home on a woman schoice ofan ITcareer. In addition, several additional socio-culturalfactors served to addfurther variation to genderedcultural influences: genderedcareer norms, socialclass;economic opportunity, and gender stereotypes about aptitude. These results lendfurther empirical supportto the emergent individual differences theory ofgender and IT that endeavors to theorize within-gendervariation with respect to issues related to gender and IT They also point to areas where educational andworkplace interventions can be enacted.

Keywords: cultural differences, diversity, IT personnel, gender, globalization, individual differences theoryofgender and IT, qualitative research

INTRODUCTIONThe 2lst century is witnessing the emergenceof a robust globalized information technology(IT) sector. There are two significant factors

contributing to this global phenomenon. First,countries around the world are recognizing theeconomicbenefits that accrue from the development ofan IT workforce capable ofengaging in

Copyright © 2008,lGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of [GI Global isprohibited.

2 Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4), 1-23, October-December 2008

the deploymentofcomputerhardware, software,and information services (Irwin, 2000; Shiva,1989; Trauth, 2000). Second, sophisticatednetworking technologies that have made bothasynchronous and real-time communicationsbetween different regions and countries feasible, have enabled both new ways ofworkingand increased collaboration (Huang & Trauth,2006). Consequently, the variety of countrieswho have become equipped with a maturing ITsector and a pool of talented IT workers, hassignificantly increased the diversity of the ITworkforce (Trauth, Huang, Morgan, Quesenberry, & Yeo, 2006).

At the same time, there is evidence ofsocial exclusion in the IT sector (e.g., Finquelievich, 2003; Schienstock, 1999; Trauth &Quesenberry, 2006). The focus of this articleis on the underrepresentation of women in allsegments ofthe information technology careerpipeline, from enrollment in secondary schooland university courses, to positions in the ITworkforce, to IT managementpositions (Camp,2002; Margolis & Fisher, 2002; Teague, 2002;Women and Minorities in Information Technology Forum, 1999). In the United States, forexample, women comprise approximately halfofthe labor force, yet they are underrepresentedin the U.S. IT workforce. The InformationTechnology Association ofAmerica's (ITAA)Blue Ribbon Diversity Panel revealed that in2004 women represented only 32.4% of theU.S. IT workforce, a figure down from 41% in1996 (ITAA, 2005). The underrepresentationofwomen is also documented by the genderedresponse to the dot-com bust. The data showthat men were far more likely than womento return to the IT profession as the market .recovered. For example, from 2003 to 2004,the unemployment rate of skilled men in theIT field dropped 34.4% while the number ofunemployed skilled women droppedonly 5.15%(lTAA, 2005).

The number of women working in IT occupations in Canada has also declined over thelast decade from 28% in 2001 to 25% in 2003(Downie, Dryburgh, McMullin, & Ranson,2004). In addition, women account for only

14% ofthe IT industry in India (Pande, 2006).The Workforce Aging in the New Economy(2004) reported that with regard to Europe, theindustry and policy initiatives to attract morewomen into the profession have not been metwith success. For instance, in the UK andGermany, men outnumber women five to onein computing professions; in the Netherlands itis seven to one. Furthermore, in 2001, womenaccounted for only 23.6% ofthe Australian ITworkforce (Staehr, Byrne, & Bell, 2006). Basedon the information compiled by Statistics NewZealand, Hembry and Presley (2006) notedthatin New Zealand women accounted for only 11 %ofsystems technician occupations and 16%ofapplication engineeroccupations in 200 1.In thecase of Ireland, in 1998, women accounted fornearly 31% of the Irish IT workforce but thisnumberdropped to 27.5% in2004 (Organizationfor Economic Co-operation and Development,2007). We can conclude that the IT workforceis at the same time diverse and not diverse,depending upon the dimensions of diversitythat one considers. The IT workforce is diversewith respect to nationality but not sufficientlydiverse with respect to gender.

The underrepresentation of women in theIT workforce, coupled with increased culturaldiversity emanating from the globalization ofthe IT sector, highlights a problem both for thepractice and the research domains of the ITfield. The problem for practice is to developinterventions to increase the underrepresentation of women. The problem for research is totheorize the issue and compile data in such awaythat actionable interventions can result. Galpin(2002), for example, explained that the participation of women in the global IT workforce isinfluenced by complex cultural and societalfactors that differ from country to country.As a result, he argued that when consideringgender and IT issues it is important to take intoaccount the cultural context. Investigations ofthe influential factors in gender and IT researchneed to account for cultural contexts so as tomaximize the potential that solutions developedto improve the social inclusion ofwomen in ITwill have far-reaching effects. Therefore, in an

Copyrightl!:>2008, JGl Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited

Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4), 1-23, October-December 2008 3

effort to contribute to both practice and theory,this article presents an analysis of cultural factors influencing the career choices for womenwith respect to the IT workforce. Specifically, itinvestigates (a) the ways inwhich perceptions ofa woman's role that are embedded in the cultureof a given society influence IT career choice,and (b) how other societal factors moderategender influences.

This article is structured in the followingway. Webegin by reviewing the literature aboutcultural influences on gender and IT. We thenpresent the theoretical framework that has beenemployed ina multiyear, multicountry researchprogram that is examining the experiences ofwomen in the fT workforce, followed by theway in which this theoretical framework wasused to inform the methodology. Finally, wepresent the findings from analysis of multiplefield studies of women in the IT workforceand the implications of our results for theoryand practice.

LITERATURE REVIEWThe underrepresentation of women in the ITworkforce has been a major concern ofeducators, practitioners, and researchers (e.g. Adam,Howcroft, & Richardson, 2002; Arnold &Niederman, 2001). Studies have shown thatthe underrepresentation of women in IT is aworldwide phenomenon as manifested inenrollmentinlTrelateddisciplinesandthenumberofwomen employed in the IT workforce (Galpin,2002; Huyer, 2005; Rosser, 2005; Sanders,2005). Further, it has been observed (Galpin,2002) thatthere iswide variation inparticipationlevels of women in IT with no clear pattern toexplain these differences. Schinzel (1999) notedthat this indicates a need to take a closer lookat cultural influences on gender relations withrespect to the IT field. In the following sectionswe consider the Iiterature that has examined theways in which cultural influences come intoplay in research on the topic of gender and theITworkforce. We categorize this literature intothree themes: cultural influences within a country, multicultural influences within a country,and cultural influences across countries.

Cultural Influences Within aCountryFrieze, Hazzan, Blum, and Dias (2006) arguedthat researchers and practitioners need to recognize the importance ofcultural issues as thesefactors have a significant influence on the careeroptions available to women. A wide variety ofissues have been investigated regarding whywomen are underrepresented and how to narrow the IT gender gap within a given country.These studies examine the underlying culturalinfluences in a given context, and a number ofinteresting findings have been made regardingthe role of family dynamics and how genderidentity and stereotypes are shaped by socialand political ideology.

Severa] researchers have concluded thatfamily dynamics and the role of parents arean important component of cultural influences on women and their relationship withIT. Medeiros (2005) conducted a study of thedecreasing participation ofBrazilian women inIT-relatedactivities and occupations. The authorexplains thatwomen constitute 51% of Brazil'spopulation and the amount of IT-related workis increasing due to outsourcing. Yet, womenare still underrepresented in computer-relatedprofessions in the country. The author concludedthat improving the participation of women inthe IT workforce hinges on the family, sinceparental influence in Brazil plays a significantrole in career choice and self-image. Hence,the author argues for increased informal education of parents, which calls attention to theadvantages of IT jobs for women.

In contrast, Adams, Bauer, and Baichoo(2003) and Adams, Baichoo, and Bauer (2006)examined the role ofcultural factors in Mauritius that have enabled an increasing number ofwomen to study fT.Their results show that from1990 to 2003 there have been rapid increasesin computer science and engineering enrollments in Mauritius. For instance, by 2003, therepresentation ofwomen was 37% in computerscience and engineering, 51% in informationsystems, and49% in computer science and multimedia. The percentage of women graduatingfrom computing programs has also increased.

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited.

4 Joumal of Global Information Management, 16(4). 1-23, October-December 2008

They believethat cultural factors were the majorreasons for these increases. Specifically, theauthors concluded that the following culturaldynamics were important: families that placeda high value on females having IT careers, anational culture that strongly promotes IT, andthe single-sex high school system which allowsgirls to develop aptitude and interests towardstechnology in the absence of male peer pressure to conform to gender stereotypes abouttechnology.

Researchers have also concluded thatthe social and political ideology about gender identity and stereotypes are an importantcomponent of cultural influences on womenand their relationship with IT. Ecevit, GunduzHosgor, and Tokluoglu (2003) studied professional women who work as system analystsand computer programmers in Turkey. Theyfound that Turkish women hold a higher shareof computer-related occupations compared toothermale-dominated occupations such as law,medicine, and engineering in the country. Inaddition, the presence of professional womenin computer programming occupations in Turkey is also high compared to the statistics inthe United States and The Netherlands. Theyexplored the historical, social, and culturalfactors contributing to this phenomenon. Theseinclude the emphasis on gender equality, thepolitical ideology of Turkey with its attendanteducational policies-that support this ideology,and the family's encouragementofits daughtersto be educated in science and technology fields.They also investigated various strategies usedbyprofessional women to reconcile professionaland marital roles. Their conclusion is that it iscritical to recognize women's own agency inshaping their own positions and responses torelationships with technology.

Multicultural Influences Within aCountryResearchers have also investigated multiculturalinfluences on gender and IT within a specificsocietal context. Taken together, these studiesshow how the diversity ofculturalbackgrounds

of women in a single country can result inwide variation in their relationships with IT.An example is the way in which geographyand social class have been shown to influencewomen and their relationship with IT. Shen andGe (2006) investigated technology adoptionand IT careers among women in China. Theirfindings indicate that the number of Chinesefemale Internet users is increasing, yet thedistribution is severely skewed with respectto age, region, and occupation. For instance,in China, the majority of female Internet usersis younger in age (ranging from 15-30 years),resides in urban regions, is highly educated, andholds professional occupations. The authors addthat while the social status ofwomen is improving and the gender gap is becoming narrowerin urban areas, there are still significant issueswith respect to improving the participation ofwomen in the IT workforce.

Researchers have also found that race influences women's relationship with IT. Clarke andTeague (1994a, 1994b) analyzed interview datawith Asian and Caucasian computerscience andengineering students in Australia. The authorsfound that the Asian female students did notsee computing as a male domain; rather, thesestudents experienced direct encouragementfrom theirfamilies to pursue computing-relatedsecondary studies. Clarke and Teague (1994a)pointed out that "the differences within gendergroups aregreater than the differences betweengender groups" [italics added] (p. 259).

In a later study, Nielsen, von Hellens,Greenhill, and Pringle (1998) also investigatedAsian and Caucasian female students enrolled inIT disciplines inAustralia. Their study showedthat bothAsian and Caucasian females had similar views about the IT professions. However,Asian female students were more inclined tochoose IT-relatedsubjects, despite theirnegativeperceptions of IT professions, because of thefuture prospects of employment opportunities(Nielsen, von Hellens, Greenhill, & Pringle)1999; Nielsen et al., 1998). The authors arguedthat this view is influenced by the collectivistcharacteristic ofAsian culture and is based onpractical considerations, as compared to the

Copyright © 2008, IGI Giobal.Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited.


individualistic "free-choice" decision-makingmodel in most Western cultures.

Researchers have also found that religionand ethnic identity account for variation in cultural influence on women and their relationshipwith IT. Eidelman and Hazzan (2005, 2006)examined how the Arabic and Jewish culturalbackgrounds of different students may shapetheir relationships with IT differently in Israel.They concluded that the percentage of femalehigh school students who study advancedlevel computer science is higher among Arabstudents than their Jewish counterparts. Theauthors attributedthis difference to cultural andfamilial differences between Arab and Jewishadolescents (Eidelman & Hazzan, 2005, 2006).Specifically, the authors argued that a collective characteristic of Arab culture is centeredon strong family and peer influences that stresshigh scholastic achievement for social statusimprovement. On the other hand, the authorsfound that the influence of parents and friendsis lower in the Jewish culture. They stressedthat in order to not be inferior in the eyes oftheir family, "in particular and their society ingeneral, it seems that Arab female students arehighly motivated to study computer sciencesince they consider these studies as a way toprove their skills and capabilities" (Eidelman& Hazzan, 2006, p. 1097).

Cultural Influences AcrossCountriesSeveral researchers have conducted comparisonstudies across multiple countries in order toinvestigate how women's relationship with ITvaries by country. The primary intent of thisresearch is to understand the nuances ofdifferent socio-cultural influences on gender and IT.For instance, Minguez (2005) found politicalideology to have an influence on women '8

relationship with IT. She compared statisticson computer and Internet use among severalEuropean countries and found unequal accessto computing technologies based on genderto be more significant in southern Europeancountries, particularly in Spain. Minguez attributed this to the focus of the Franco regime

on perpetuating the traditional fam ilymodel ofa male as primary breadwinner. She concludedthat this ideology has, consequently, limitedthe opportunities for women to participate inthe labor market.

Researchers have also found temporal shiftsin political ideologies with respect to influenceson women and their relationship with IT. Hersh(2000) examined survey data from a researchproject on the changing position of womenin engineering careers in 55 countries from1960 to 1997. The author stressed that womenare still underrepresented in the engineeringprofession in the majority of countries despitesignificant increases in their participation overthe last two decades. Yet, there are significantdifferences among the countries and amongdifferent institutions within the same country.For example, the author reported that the participation of women in engineering careers inEastern Europe has increased in recent years.The author explained that this growth was dueto dramatic changes in economic development(i.e., the need for more engineers for industrialdevelopment) and ideological systems (i.e., theequal roles ofmen and women in the workplacein communist regions, the availability ofchildcare facilities, etc}

Thus, change in images and attitudes wasfacilitated by the changes in political climateand ideology from 1945 onward It was probably, at least in part, due to the increasingimportance ofthe development ofindustry inthe state communist period, resulting in theneedfor more engineers and other technicallyqualified workers. This will have reinforced theideological commitment to equalizing the rolesofmen andwomen in the workplace (at least atthe lower levels). The availability ofchild-carefacilities and the encouragementfor women toenter paid employment will also have had anadditional effect. (Hersh, 2000, p. 6)

Gender stereotypes related to IT have alsobeen shown to vary by country. For instance,Dumdell, Haag, and Laithwaite (2000) compared computer self-efficacy and gender of

Copyright © 2008, fGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of lGI Global isprohibited.


college students in Scotland and Romania. Theirfindings showed that for within-country comparisons, males were more confident about theircomputer skills than females in both Scotlandand Romania. Yet, for across-country comparisons, both males and females in Romania weremore confident about their advanced computerskills than their Scottish counterparts. Likewise,Makrakis and Sawada (1996) studied 773 ninthgrade students in Japan and Sweden in order tomeasure and comparemale and female attitudestowards computers. Their findings show thatmales in both countries reported higherscores ofusefulness, aptitude, and interest in computers.They also found differences in the perceptionof computers and mathematics among malesand females. Japanese students perceived morestrongly than Swedish students that computersand mathematics are male domains. Swedishstudents' gender stereotypes appeared to be lessstrong than was the case for Japanese students.According to these authors the differencesreflect the Japanese cultural norm of "goodwife, clever mother,"' which affects Japanesegirls' choice of a gender stereotypical education suitable for a wife and mother. This is thecase in spite ofthe fact that, in principle, thereseem to be equal opportunities applied to bothgenders in Japanese society.

Cultural analysis of the first exposure tocomputers across China and the UK has alsorevealed an important difference in the influence on women and their relationship with IT.Li and Kirkup (2007) investigated underlyingcultural factors for both similar and different usepatterns ofthe Internet by women in China andthe UK. Their results indicate that gender differences in computer ownership may no longerexist for young adults at universities in Chinaand the UK. The authors felt that the situation inChina could be attributed to the parental valueplaced on education and computing skills. Theauthors felt that in the UK the findings could beattributed to the pervasiveness ofthe computer.The authors also found that gender differenceswithin the British group were more significantthan those within the Chinese group. The authorsargued that it might be due to the differences in

first-time computer use. The British women intheir study tended to have negative computerexperiences in the early stage ofcomputer use.On the other hand, the Chinese women in theirstudy were typically exposed to computers forthe first time at school, where the educationalsetting helps to provide equal opportunitiesfor students of both genders. However, theirfindings indicate that in spite of the increaseofcomputer ownership, there were significantgender differences in computer and Internetusage in both Chinese and British groups. Menin both countries were more likely to use thecomputer and the Internet for personal interestssuch as playing games andJorusing chat rooms,and they were more confident about their computer skills as well.

Finally,technophobia, orthe perceived fearofcomputers, was found to vary with respect toits relationshipto gender and IT.Weiland Rosen(1995) examined the level of technophobiaamong first-year university students from 23countries, including the United States, westernand eastern European countries, Israel, andcountries in Asia, South America, and Africa.Their results indicated that gender was onlymildly correlated with technophobia and appeared in less than one fourth ofthe countries.In addition, past experiences with computersdecreased the appearance of technophobia inthe majority ofthe countries. According to theirresults, females in Israel and Hungary showedmore computer anxiety than males in these twocountries, and males in Thailand, Italy and Kenyashowed more computer anxietythan femalesin these three countries. Hence, the authorsconcluded that "there is no worldwide consensus on who are more technophobic-males orfemales" (p. 102). Rather, they concluded thatthe country's cultural characteristics serve asone ofthe important factors affecting the leveloftechnophobia in that country.

Summary of CUltural InfluencesResearchResearch on cultural influences on careerchoices for women in the IT workforce can beclassified into three categories. One stream of

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic fOnTIS without written permission of IG1Global isprohibited.


research focuses on studying the relationshipsbetween gender and IT in a particular nationalcontext and revealing the underlying culturalinfluences (e.g.,Adams etaI.,2003, 2006; Ecevitet al., 2003; Medeiros, 2005). Another streamofresearch situates multicultural influences ongender and IT within a specific societal contextwhile studying how the diverse cultural backgrounds ofdifferent womenmay influence theirrelationships with IT (e.g., Clarke & Teague,1994a, 1994b; Eidelman & Hazzan, 2005,2006; Nielsen et al., 1998, 1999; Shen & Ge,2006). The third stream ofresearch consists ofcomparison studies that investigate how andwhy women's participation in IT varies acrosscountries (e.g., DurndeH et aI., 2000; Hersh,2000; Li & Kirkup, 2007; Makrakis & Sawada;1996; Minguez, 2005; Weil & Rosen, 1995).

This extensive body of research providesevidence of two things. First, it shows thatcultural factors are highly relevant in theconsideration of factors affecting gender andIT. Second, while there are some commonthemes there is also wide variability acrossdifferent countries or across different groupswithin a given country. Thus, the research todate demonstrates that both gender and IT aresocially constructed, and historically and culturally shaped (Huang, 2006; Li & Kirkup, 2007;Trauth, Quesenberry & Huang, 2006). At thesame time, there is also wide variation in theways in which culture shapes women and theparticular factors at work.

Thus, several issues remain with respect toresearch on culture, gender, and IT. First, thereis a need for additional research that articulateshow cultural factors influence the image ofgender, the image of technology, and genderrelations with respect to technology. Withoutin-depthunderstandings ofthe influential factorsfrom the surrounding socio-cultural contexts,solutions intending to improve the social inclusion of women in IT may only have limitedeffect and may not be far reaching. Second,while those studies acknowledge the diverserelationships between gender and IT acrossdifferent countries, there is limited research

recognizing that such diverse relationships alsoexist within gender groups in the same country.Gender is only a part of an individual's socialidentify. Taking a human agent as a whole, gender interacts with other social constructs such asrace, ethnic background, age, and social class.Both the study by Eidelman and Hazzan (2005,2006) and the study by Nielsen et al. (1998,1999) indicated that the cultural influencesfrom one's ethnic and family background areimportant to shaping one's relationship with IT.Third, it should be realized that these streams ofresearch are mutually informative, particularlywith the increasing trends ofglobalization oftheIT industry,offshore outsourcing, and the mobility of the IT professions. Frieze et al. (2006)argued that appropriate local interventions inthe microculture may have a large effect. Thus,we can see that the topic of diversity in the ITsector is not simple and that research about thistopic cannot be simplistic.

THEORETtCAL FRAMEWORKOne common theme that runs through the threestreams of research discussed above is thatperceptions ofwomen's roles in society and inthe IT sector are socio-culturally constructed.Further, we can note from the review of theliterature that these perceptions vary acrosscountries. For example, the study by Ecevit etal. (2003) reveals that the emphasis on genderequality and the political ideology of Turkeyplay important roles in the high percentage ofwomen inthe Turkish ITsector. Similarly,Hersh(2000) attributed the increase of women in engineering careers in Eastern Europe to economic,political, and cultural influences, including theneed in these countries for more engineers,the equal roles assigned to men and women inthe societies, and the availability of childcarefacilities in these countries. On the other hand,Minguez's (2005) study illustrates a counterexample of Spain, whereby the traditionalfamily model of men as the breadwinners hada negative influence on women's participationin the IT sector. Makrakis and Sawada (1996)provided another example ofhow the traditional

Copyright © 2008, 1GJGlobal. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited_

8 Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4), 1-23, October~December 2008

cultural norm ofa woman's role being limitedto wife and mother affects the career choicesof Japanese females.

Another cultural dimension emphasizedacross these streams of research is the influence offamily on women's career choices. Forexample, Adams et al. (2003,2006) pointed outthat in addition to the strong national effortspromoting IT in Mauritius, families placinghigh value on females holding IT careers isanother key factor affecting the increasingnumber of women studying IT. Findings fromother studies also support this argument in different cultural contexts: Turkey (Ecevit et al.,2003), Brazil (Medeiros, 2005), and China (Li& Kirkup, 2007). In addition, the studies byNielsen et al. (1998,1999) and Eidelman andHazzan (2005, 2006) show how the differentvalues that families place on IT education andIT careers influence career choice among different women within the same country, eventhough the socially constructed perception ofwomen's roles in the engineering and ITfieldsare similar.

Thus, the research literature demonstratesthe need to understand the nuances ofdifferentsocio-cultural influences on gender and IT bothwithin a country and across different countries.This recognition, in turn, suggests the need toincorporate this understanding into the development of interventions to improve women'sparticipation in IT that fit with a specific sociocultural context. Finally, the literature pointsto the need to conduct theoretically-informedinvestigations of these nuances. However,what appears to be missing in cultural studiesof gender and IT are sufficient gender and ITtheories that can help to explain this variationin cultural influences on gender and IT.

In response to this need, Trauth has proposed an individual differences theory ofgenderand IT (Trauth, 2002; Trauth & Quesenberry,2006; Trauth, Quesenberry, & Morgan, 2004),which endeavors to characterize the variationin factors that account for women's underrepresentation in IT. These differences exist withrespect to the ways women experience andrespond to characteristics of IT work, the IT

workplace and societal messages about womenand IT.The theory addresses the need forgreaternuance in the examination ofgender and IT inthat it conceptualizes women as individuals,having distinct personalities, experiencing arange of socio-cultural influences, and therefore exhibiting a range of responses to thesocial construction of IT. More specifically,the theory examines the individual variationsacross genders as a result of both personalcharacteristics and environmental influences inorder to understand the participation ofwomenin the IT profession. Hence, the individual differences theory of gender and IT focuses onthe differences within rather than between thegenders through the understanding ofspecificinfluencing factors.

The focus of the individual differencestheory of gender and IT on within-gendervariation in response to societal-level genderinfluences regarding IT (Trauth, 2002; Trauth& Howcroft, 2006; Trauth & Quesenberry,2005,2006,2007) is concerned with the question ofwhy some women persist in the IT fieldin the face of systemic gender biases in botheducation and the workplace. The premise isthat women do vary with respect to the factorsthat help to explain their underrepresentationin the IT profession. The theory posits that theanswer can be found in the combined influenceofendogenous and exogenous factors that influence an individual's personal development andsubsequent IT career decisions (Trauth et al.,2004). That is, while all females in a particularsociety may be exposed to similar messagesabout gender roles and IT, both the interpretation ofthese messages and the response to themwill vary as a result ofindividual factors. Thus,the individual differences theory ofgender andIT searches for the causes of gender underrepresentation by examining the factors thataccount for the varied ways that individualsinternalize and respond to gendered messages.ft seeks to understand the sources ofindividualagency that enable some women to overcomesystemic negative influences.

According to this theory, an understandingofindividual responses to common societal in-

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGl Global isprohibited.


fluences can be obtained from an understandingof the combination of personal characteristicsand environmental influences, hence, the focuson differences within rather than between genders. Thetheory also views women as individuals who possess different technical talents andinclinations and respond to the social shapingof gender in unique and particular ways. Thistheory acknowledges that common socialshaping messages are conveyed to subgroupsin a culture (e.g., to women by age, race, etc.).But at the same time it also takes into accountthe varied influence of individual backgroundand critical life events that result in a range ofresponses to those uniform messages (i.e, notall women ofa certain age group respond in thesame way to commonly received messages).

This theory is comprised of three generalconstructs that, together, explain women's decisions to enter and remain in the IT field. Theindividual identity construct includes bothpersonal demographic items (e.g., age, race,ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic class,and parenting status) and career items (e.g.,industry in which one currently does or willwork, IT discipline-eomputer science, information systems, and information science-s-oneis studying). The individual influence construct includes persona] characteristics (e.g.,educational background, personality traitsand abilities) and personal influences (e.g.,mentors, role models, experiences with computing, and other significant life experiences).Finally, the environmental influence constructincludes cultural attitudes and values (e.g.,attitudes about IT, about women in IT, aboutrace/ethnicity) related to the geographic areain which one lives, as well as economic andpolicy influences in that region/country. Theindividual differences theory of gender and ITposits that, collectively, these constructs accountfor the differences among women in the waysthey relate to the IT field, and societal messagesabout women and IT.

Research to date, has investigateda numberofdimensions ofvariation among women. Morgan, Quesenberry, and Trauth (2004) developeda framework ofthe varied responses ofwomen

to male dominated social networks in the ITworkplace. Regional and national factors thathelp to explain the variation in women's participation in the IT workforce were consideredin a set ofpapers (Trauth, Quesenberry, & Yeo,200,2008; Trauth et aI., 2006b). Quesenberryand Trauth (2005) examined the ways in whichwomen employ ubiquitous computing technology in order to achieve work-life balance.Quesenberry, Trauth, and Morgan (2006) investigated the different ways in which womenaccommodated to motherhood and their ITcareers. Finally, Quesenberry and Trauth (2007)explored variation in career anchors amongwomen IT professionals.

In this article, the theory is used to illuminate the investigation of cultural influences ongender and IT by facilitating examination ofpossible connections between cultural factorsand the experiences of women in the IT workforce. This theoretical application allows foranalysis of women in a societal context. Theargument for consideringwomen's experiencesinasocietal context stands incontrastto researchwhich decontextualizes women's experiencesby generalizing from a single data set to allwomen everywhere. Researchers have demonstrated that investigations ofgender as a singleconstruct can be problematic (e.g., Llewellyn &Usselman, 200 I; Woszczynski, Myers, Beise,& Moody, 2004). As an alternative, this articleillustrates the benefit of considering the relationship between two constructs such as genderand societal context.

In order to address the need for greatertheoretically informed analysis of culturalinfluences on women in the IT workforce, weconsider the following research questions inthis article:

RQl: What are the ways in which perceptionsof a woman's role that are embedded in theculture ofa given society influence IT careerchoice?

RQ2: How do other societalfactors moderatethese influences?

Copyright © 2008, 1GI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited.


METHODOLOGYIn order to address these research questions, weexamined four data sets ofinterviews conductedbetween 1990 and 2006 with women workingin the ITworkforce in four countries: Australia,New Zealand, Ireland, and the United States.These investigations were all conducted by thefirst author.'

The data set about women working inIreland comes from two separate field studiesof women in Ireland's IT sector. The first ofthese data sets came from interviews conductedin 1990 as part ofa larger, Fulbright sponsoredinvestigation of the influence of socio-culturalfactors--culture, economy, infrastructure, andeconomy-s-on the evolution ofIreland's information economy (Trauth, 1999, 2000, 200 I).Genderwas one among many factors examinedit) this study.' The questions about gender thatwere part of the interviews focused on therole of women in Irish society at the time andthe subsequent effect on women's potentialfor participation in the information economy(Trauth, 1995, 2000).

The second Irish data set came frominterviews conducted in 2003 as part of aScience Foundation Ireland-funded study ofsocio-cultural impacts of Ireland's information economy. The purpose ofthese interviewswas to note differences in perceptions about awoman's role in Irish society, participation inthe Irish information economy, and the effectofIreland's new-found economic health on theposition of women.

The third data set came from an investigation of women working in IT in Australia andNew Zealand that was conducted in 2000 inconjunction with an Australian Research Councilfunded study-Women and IT (WinIT)-thatwas being conducted at Griffith Universityin Brisbane, Australia (Trauth, 2002; Trauth,Nielsen, & von Hellens, 2003). The purposeofthese interviews was to investigate the waysin which individual identity and individual influences helped to moderate negative societalmessages about women's participation in theIT sector.

The final data set came from a multiyear,National Science Foundation-funded investigation of women in the United States ITworkforce (2002-2007). The purpose of theseinterviews was to collect empirical data inorderto develop and test an emergent theory aboutthe role of individual differences in the socialshaping ofgender and IT. The goal was to better understand the factors that help to accountfor the underrepresentation of women in theU.S. IT sector.

All four ofthese studies were interpretivefield studies in which the first author conductedface-to-face, open-ended interviews with female IT practitioners and academics. Strategic,convenience sampling techniques were usedto facilitate geographical representation ofthewomen in the studies." Women were askedopen-ended questions about their educational .backgrounds, work experiences and about family and socio-cultural factors that influencedthem to become ITprofessionals. The womenwere also asked about factors that have eitherenhanced or inhibited their participation in theIT sector (see Appendix A).

The results ofthe first Irish study inspiredthe subsequent gender studies. While genderwas one among many socio-cultural factorsexamined in the first Irish study, gender was theexplicit focus of the AustralianlNew Zealandstudy. The theoretical insights resulting fromthat study, in tum, formed the basis ofthe NSFproposal that enabled the conduct of the U.S.study. The second Irish study was conductedcontemporaneously with the u.S. study.

All of the interviews lasted between 60and 120 minutes in length. A total of200 interview transcripts were analyzed for this article.Forty-six of these interviews were conductedin Ireland, 3] were conducted inAustraliaINewZealand, and 123 were conducted in the UnitedStates (see Table 1). The interviews were recorded and transcribed in order to facilitatecoding and analysis. Transcripts from the firstIrish study were coded by the first author.Themes that emerged from the first Irish study,relevant gender literature and the constructs of

Copyright © 200&,IGl Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGl Global isprohibited.


the emergent individual differences theory ofgender and IT formed the basis for the codingof the AustralianlNew Zealand data,' the datafrom the U.S. study and that from the secondIrish study. The second Irish study and theU.S. study were coded by all three authors.Generic database software" was used to facilitatecomputer-based analysis of the data set fromthe first Irish study. The other three data setsemployed the same special purpose qualitativeanalysis software? for analysis. Analysis ofthe interview data was also supplemented byparticipant observation notes about the womenand their socio-cultural environment as well asby literature about the culture of the regions/countries in which the datawas collected. Thesenotes were compiled by the first author, wholived in each country while the interviews werebeing conducted there.

FINDINGS

ParticipantsThese women represent considerable variationwith resp~ct to demographics and personal characteristics. The women range in age from 21- to65-years-old with a median age of 41 years."Twenty-six ofthe women are single, 106womenare married or in a partnered relationship, 11women are divorced (not remarried), and onewoman is widowed (not remarried)." Sixty-sixofthe women have no children, 20 women haveone child, 40 women have two children, and18 women have three or more children.'? Thewomen have followed a range of IT and non-

Table 1. Interviews by country a/residence

IT-related educational paths and undergraduateand graduate degrees. The women also representa diverse background with respect to IT workexperience. Collectively, they include roles inacademia, information and requirements analysis, systems design and development, qualityassurance, systems administration and support,consulting, training, and management.

Considerable cultural variation exists inthis combined dataset. First, cultural differencesare represented by virtue of the four countriesin which the participants were living. Second,the participants in each ofthese countries comefrom a range of racial and ethnic backgroundsincluding Asian (China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan,Vietnam, India); Pacific Islander (Fiji,Australia,New Zealand); Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad,St. Thomas, Puerto Rico); Hispanic/Latino;Middle Eastern (Lebanon, Egypt); EasternEuropean (poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina);Western European (France, Germany, Italy,Ireland, U.K.) (See Table 2). As a result, thesewomen embody a rich variety ofcultural influences that are manifested in a variety of waysin their professional lives.

To demonstrate how cultural influenceson gender and IT are manifested in the livesof female IT practitioners and academics, weexplored the perceptions of women's role insociety that are embedded in a culture andhow this influences career choice. In doingso, we investigated the following themes:maternity, child care, perceptions of womenworking outside ofthe home, and parental careresponsibilities. During this analysis, a numberof additional themes about cultural influences

Country of Residence Year(s) Conducted # ofInterview ees

Australia/New Zealand

Ireland

Ireland

United States

2000

1990

2003

2002-2006

31

25

21

123

Copyright © 2008, lGr Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of (G! Global isprohibited.

12 Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4), 1-23, October-December200B

[The Irish tax rates werevery high and the laws]addedtogether the husbandandwife ssalariesand taxed them as one. So, the husbandgot allthe tax free allowances and the wives wouldnot get any [As a result] every hourly salaryis taxed at the high rate. (Siobhann)

Perceptions of Women's Rolein Society Influencing IT CareerChoiceA prevalent manifestation ofcultural influenceon the experiences ofwomen inthe ITworkforcerelates to maternity and motherhood. One aspectin particular highlights the temporal nature ofcultural influences and how societal messagesevolve over time. During the data collection inthe first Irish study a common theme expressedby the participants was that women, inparticularmothers, should not work outside the home. AsPatricia explained, "This is a very traditionalsociety.... It is still frowned upon for a motherto work."

Likewise, Siobhann explained that in the1980s, a marriage tax in Ireland made it very difficult for married women to work, because theydid not have a personal tax-free allowance:

emerged from the data. These themes centeraround cultural factors influencing career choicedeterminates among women. Specifically, thesewere grouped into the following categories:choosing a career you want to do vs. whatyou can do, social class influences, economicopportunities, and gender stereotypes aboutaptitude. These themes are discussed in moredetail in the remainder of this section.

A decade later, the sentiment in the 2003interviews changed, and many of the Irishwomen that were interviewed felt the positionof women in their country has improved. Forinstance, Norah felt that the position ofwomenis "definitely better," and there are more opportunities for women, particularly in the sciences.Dymphna explained that working women areno longer viewed as taking a job away froma man who is supporting a family. She feltthis was mainly because people have learned

White American 99

Black American 10

AfricanAmerican 7

Afro-Caribbean 3

Asian American 10

Vietnamese

Chinese 3

Taiwanese

Japanese

Korean

Indian 3

HispanicJLatino 2

Middle Eastern 2

Egyptian

Lebanese

AustralianCaucasian 12

NewZealandCaucasian 9

AmericanCaucasian

AsianAustralian 4

Indian

Chinese

South Korean

Fiji

European Australian 5

Bosniaand Herzegovina Caucasian

IrishCaucasian

Polish Caucasian

UnitedKingdom Caucasian 2

Participant Racial/Ethnic # ofIdentil) b) Country of Residence Participants

r~~~~:;?,{~~~~§;':-fJ~jf~:.~~~ti~~!'~!}.i;.~1.P.~Jic~~~~\4;l).~,;·(l'i~.,~,*,~~+1;;.g~~t~ir,uii)i:~~s¥i50~~~~7.t~·~'"\.~-::;'l!:::'",:tl.2.:~~~t!}';I"..~u~'?"..id~.41

Table 2. Participant racial/ethnic identity bycountry ofresidence


Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4), 1~23, October-December 2008 13

that dual-income couples are necessary in thenew economic reality of increased costs andmortgages. Although, the position of womenhas improved, barriers to their participationin the IT workforce still remain however. Forexample, Iaobh recognizes that it is more difficult for women to climb the corporate ladderof success: '"I think [climbing the corporateladder] depends on children. I think that is onething that can hold some women back.... ButI think that is changing; men are getting moreinvolved" (Iaobh).

Another theme about motherhood andcareers that was raised by women in OUT studiesrelates to how communist or centrally plannedsocieties shape their views of women workingoutside of the home. For example, Anita, whois from Bosnia and Herzegovina, explained thatcommunist and social ist ideo10 gies, as opposedto capitalist ideologies, typically have a different view of female employment. She felt thatthe former Soviet Union and other communistcountries had very little gender segregation inhigh-paying careers because of an importanceplaced on gender equality issues. Likewise,Charlene, an Australian woman who grew Upin communist Poland, feIt that communist andsocialist ideologies were more open to womenworking because of pure economics. She feltthis paradigm was aresult ofa"different societystructure," where both women and men hadcareers and shared domestic responsibilities:

l feel, comingfrom a communist country, [wasraised in a little bit different way than girls areraised [in capitalist western cultures]. Therewas more expectation on us to get to any fieldwe wanted, andgender was not really an issue.Andbecause ofeconomical reasons, our mothers had to work. As such, they were also ourbreadwinners as much as our fathers. l guess,there was a bigger awareness or let 50 say, acceptance ofwomen [working). (Charlene)

Many women also spoke about the role ofgovernment-provided child care and maternityleave.Brianna, an Irish woman, feltthatthe Irishnational policies on maternal and paternal leave

are extremely beneficial for working mothers.By taking a short amount of paid leave fromwork, mothers and/or fathers are able to spendquality time with newborn children, but are notpunished when returning to the workforce. Likewise, Iaobh and Dearbhla, also Irish women,believed that there has been an increase in theacceptability of mothers working outside of thehorne in Ireland in recent years.

A theme raised by many participants wasthe influence of family dynamics on theircareers. These women spoke about how theirfamilies influenced their perceptions of theacceptability of women working outside ofthehome. For instance, Jada, an Indian womanworking inAmerica, explained that her parentsalways encouraged her to have a career outsideofthe home:

The message you got from your mother andfather was always that you were going to have acareer and get to go to college? (Interviewer)

Oh, absolutely, yeah Andone ofthe things, thekey things, that 1 tell people when I am talkingabout my influences, is that for us college wasnot optional. It was a/ways expected. (Jada)

At the same time, other participants spokeabout how their cultures were more family centered than work centered. For instance, Rose,who is Japanese American, explained that herparents' traditional values dictated that shebecame a stay-at-home mother:

The Japanese culture in particular does notput a lot ofemphasis on women, in particular,going out ofthe household There was a lot ofemphasis on the Japanese women stayinghomeandtaking care ofthe children and as well taking on certain kinds ofduties like finances andkeeping certain traditions alive. (Rose)

Rose went on to explain that being raisedin America gave her a hybrid view of the roleof women: a traditional Japanese view mixedwith an assimilated American view. AnotherAsianAmerican woman, Samantha, also felther

Copyright © 2008, £GIGlobal. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited_ _.

14 Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4),1-23, October-December 2008

cultural impressions about the role of womenworking outside of the home are influencedby her Korean traditional background and herassimilated American upbringing.

The women, particularly those who spokeabout female family responsibilities, also revealed a number of options available to themto help balance work and family. For example,Karen, an Indian woman working in America,explained that:

Traditionally in an Indian environment, whenthe girl is pregnant, when she is in her thirdtrimester. she wouldgo to her mom splace andhave the baby there. And come back after thebaby is afew months older.It is averytraditionalthingto do, because the mom sside ofthefamilyoffers a lot more support. (Karen)

Mitul,anAustralian womanoriginally fromIndia, explained that in India the grandparentstypically care for a child while the parents areat work. Otherwise, child-care facilities areavailable, although this option can be costly.Furthermore, as observed by the third authorofthis article who is Chinese, it is not uncommon for Chinese women studying or workingin America to send their newborn babies toChina to be raised by the grandparents duringthe initial stages of infancy.

With respect to work-life balance, severalAsian women spoke about the expectations tocare for their parents and in-laws as they getolder. For instance, Carol, a Chinese American woman, explained that in China domesticresponsibilities include taking care of yourchildren, and "taking care ofyour parents andyour husband's parents." When asked if thisperception differed from that of her Americancoworkers, she responded as follows: "I think[a] difference is that probably they do not haveto take care oftheir parents. That is the big difference I can see" (Carol).

The women alsonotedthat pleasing parentsand in-laws factored into the choice of careerand lifestyle. SeveralAsian women spoke aboutthe expectations that their parents and in-lawswould be involved in decision making about

whom to many, where to work, and when tohave children. Karen explained that it wouldhave been impossible to marry her husband ifhis parents would not have been supportive.Mitul considered herself to be lucky becauseher parents and her in-laws did not object ofher working once she had a child. She addedthat if they had objected it would have been adifficult situation, and she "probably would nothave gone against their wishes."

Socio-Cultural ModeratorsInfluencing IT Career ChoiceOne theme that repeatedly surfaced in theinterviews was the difference in career-choicedecision factors. Women in the U.S. studyfelt the American societal message of careerchoice centers on what you want to be. Yet, inother countries the societal message of careerchoice centers on what you can be or what youshouldbe. For instance, Cynthia, an Australianwoman from China, explained that in China thedecision to enter a certain career depends moreon strong academic marks than a particularinterest in the subject. She explained that shedid not have an interest in the IT field per sebut was encouraged to pursue a career in thefield because she performed well on universityentrance exams. Karen explained that shewanted to pursue a career in the humanitiesbut was discouraged because she earned verystrong grades in school. When asked ifshe wasoriented toward sciences, she replied

Yes, although, that is not where my passionlies. It was more because I was compelled totake sciences in India. Humanities and artswere not consideredsomething that smart kidswould do. Although 1 was more interested inliterature and the arts, my mom wanted me togo into engineering, although I wanted to dojournalism. (Karen)

Rosalie, who grew up in Taiwan, also feltthat pursuing a career in the IT field wouldbe prestigious for her parents. She explainedthat she was the youngest daughter, so she had



a lot of freedom in her career decisions, butshe wanted to make her parents proud of hercareer decision by entering an esteemed field.Mitul echoed these sentiments. She explainedthat in India she was a "topper," a high-scoringstudent on exams:

1was really intelligent. I was a topper.So that iswhy [people said I would become a doctor]. ...J had good marks, [but not enough to go intomedicine]. ... I didn Ywant to give up. I wantedto be a professional. (Mitul)

Mitul added that, in India, exam scores- only determine what a woman can be, but social

class determines what a woman should be. Sheexplained that in the highest social class, theexpectation is that women will not work, incontrast to women in middle or lower classeswho are expected to work. As a result, Mitulfelt it might be easier for Indian women fromthe middle class to enter the IT workforce thanthose from the upper class.

Another career choice theme that wasexpressed by a few women from Ireland andChina centers on the idea of "clean" work.Some women explained that traditional factoryor agrarian careers required a large amount ofphysical labor in which workers were expectedto get their hands dirty. The emergence ofinformation work has brought a shift in thenature ofwork. A career in the IT workforce isgenerally consider "clean," since an employeedoes not interact directly with dirt or factorymachinery. For example, Deirdre explainedthat when choosing a career, her Irish schoolcounselor and her father persuaded her to selectan IT career because you do not "get dirty." Inaddition, Carol, a Chinese American, explainedthat her parents encouraged her to pursue an ITcareer, because she could work in an office ona computer rather than being exposed to harshconditions out-of-doors, as is the case withsome careers. Likewise, Sibyl, who grew upin China, first became interested in an IT careerbecause ofher experience in financial accounting, which she believes is perceived as an "idealprofession for girls in China."

Yang, an Australian woman from SouthKorea, and Sue, an Australian Caucasian, offered insights into how the differences in societalmessages about career choice can be manifested.They believe women in Australian technologycourses at their universities are typically Asian,because they are preparing for high-payingcareers in their home countries. Since IT careers are in demand in many nearby countries(Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, thePhilippines) a larger number of the studentscome to Australia to seek an IT education.

Afinal theme noted by a number ofwomenrelated to the varying messages about genderaptitude stereotypes surrounding IT. In somecultures the societal stereotype is that womenare not well-suited for technical work. Yet, inother cultures the stereotype is the opposite.This conflicting depiction ofwomen's relationship with IT was frequently discussed in theinterviews. For instance, Linda, an Americanwoman from India, explained that she wasnever "blocked'twhen she pursued IT as afield ofstudy. In addition, Carol explained thatin China it is not viewed as inappropriate forwomen to work in IT as she feels it is in theUnited States. Likewise, Haiyan, also a ChineseAmerican, explained that women in her schoolin Hong Kong were encouraged by teachers topursue studies in math and science. She alsoexplained that th isattitude was consistent amongteachers in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan,although other cultural differences often exist among them. In addition, Cynthia spokeat great length about the differences betweenChinese and Australian perceptions ofwomendoing technical work:

I think more women in China study engineering than [in Australia]. In China, our countrysays a woman anda man are equal. There is no[stereotype that IT] is men swork. (Cynthia)

The conflicting stereotypes about aptitudeare further complicated by cultural messagesabout gender, race, and class. Some of thewomen felt that gender was not the primarydistinguishing factor in stereotypes in their


16 Journal of Global Information Management, 16(4),1-23, October-December 2008

countries. Rather, race and class demographicswere typically the primary targets ofstereotypes.For example, Allison, anArnerican woman fromJamaica, explained that negative stereotypes inJamaicaare not focused on gender. She explainsthat because the country is so diverse, "the issueis not race and gender, it is status and money."As a result, she has a difficult time reconcilingrace or gender discrimination she faces in theUnited States. In addition, Candace, anAustralian woman from Fiji, explained that gender isnot the primary factor in societal stereotypes.She explained that ethnic background suchas European, Fijian, or Indian is the primarydistinguishing factor in Fiji:

To be honest, nobody really cared that muchabout male-female [differences], because themain focus was between Fiji and Indian culture [differences]. That was the huge culturaldichotomy that existed ... Everything else kindofpaled in comparison to that. (Candace)

Lu, a Vietnamese American, spoke abouthow the gender stereotypes are compoundedby ethnic stereotypes in the United States. Sheexplained that she likes math, and hence manypeople associate her with the stereotype thatAsians are good at math:

The majority oj[my family and Asian American friends] are good at math and we excelat math and science. 1 think that it is kind ojfunny. 1mean 1 know some people who do notfit in that stereotype whatsoever-the studious,hard working science oriented person. But 1think that almost all ojmy family fits in thatso it just kind ojmakes me laugh when 1 thinkabout it. (Lu)

Another aspect ofgender aptitude stereotypes centers on the interpretation of the termgeek. Carol explained the differences inAmericaand China with respect to women being geeks.She feels that in the United States it is generallyconsidered insultingto refer to females as geeks.As a result, a number of young girls she hasmet do not want the negative label associated

with an interest in IT and chose not to pursueIT careers. Yet in China, Carol adds, it "is justthe opposite," since referring to a female as ageek is a positive comment and, in many ways,a compliment. ,

DISCUSSIONIn this article we present the results of ourinvestigation of cultural influences on womenin the IT field that was conducted in order toempirically address our research questions.These results show the importance ofincludinga cultural perspective in gender and IT research.Wepresent evidence ofdifferent cultural influences on women in the IT field that are relatedto differences in nationality and ethn icity.Further, we classified the manifestationofthesecultural influences into two themes found inprior literature about perceptions of women'srole in society that are embedded in its cultureand socio-cultural moderators (Ecevit et aI.,2003; Eidelman & Hazzan, 2005, 2006; Hersh,2000; Nielsen et aL1998, 1999): perceptionsofwomen 's role that are embedded in the culture of a society influencing IT career choice,and socio-cultural moderators influencing ITcareer choice.

With regard to perceptions of women'srole that are embedded in a society, themesabout maternity, child care, parental care, andwomen working outside of the home emergedfrom the data. With regard to socio-culturalmoderators, themes about gendered careernorms, social class, economic opportunity, andgender stereotypes about aptitude emerged fromthe data. Our analysis demonstrates how thesethemes influence variation in female IT careerchoice by culture within a country, by culturaldifferences within a country and by cultureacross multiple countries. (This analysis isdepicted in Figure 1).

Our analysis shows that while themes related to parenting, family, and economics mightbe evident in studies ofwomen in each societalcontext, the ways in which these themes areexperienced by the women vary across cultures.That is, not all women experience economic orparenthood issues in the same ways. Finally, the

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of rGJ Global isprohibited.

Journal of GJoballnformation Management, 16(4), 1-23, October-December 2008 17

Figure 1. A model ofcultural factors influencing career choices for women in the IT workforce

Perceptions of Variati.on inWomen's Role ... Female IT Career _

ir

Embedded in the ChoiceSociety-

Socia-Culturalby _

Maternity Culture within

Childcare Moderators aCountry-

-Parental Care Gendered Career Multi-q.lltun~s

WorkingNorms within a

Social Class Country :Outside the Culture across

Home Economic Opportunity.. MUltiple,Countri~s

-GenderStet~otypes .

aboutAptitude-,

results ofthis research have clear implicationsfor the theoretical underpinnings ofgender andIT research. The evidence of varying culturalinfluences on women in the IT labor forceand varying responses by women to commonexperiences such as parenthood, suggest theneed for deeper examination of factors affecting women's recruitment into and retention inthe IT field.

We explored these themes for severalreasons. First, the themes build on prior workwith the individual differences theory ofgenderand IT by investigating the influence of environmental context on women in the choice ofIT careers (e.g., Trauth et a1., 2008). In doingso, we explored historical and current economicandcultural factors present in the environmentalcontext. Second, the themes, when holisticallyexamined, represent a range of diverse influences such as the effect of political, economic,andgeographical context on genderedmessagesinthe culture; familydynam ics and expectationson career choice; and differences in supportstructures on career enactment. Finally, thesethemes demonstrate the importance ofconsidering cultural factors when conducting genderand IT research inasmuch as they appear tosignificantly influence women's choice aboutan ITcareer. Doing so willbecome increasingly

important as the IT field continues to globalizeand the cultural diversity of the domestic ITworkforce continues to grow.

The findings presented in this study makea contribution to both research and practice.With respect to research, our analysis pointsto areas of cultural influence that warrantfurther academic study. In addition, our findings make a contribution to theory by lendingfurther empirical support for the theoreticalinsights offered by the individual differencestheory ofgender and IT.Th is theory challengesessentialist assumptions that do not considercontext when concluding that the reasons forthe underrepresentation ofwomen can be foundwithin women themselves. That is, this theorychallenges the assumption that women eitherare not interested in or not capable ofachievingin the IT field. At the same time, evidence thatdifferent cultures exert different influences onwomen also adds nuance to the social construction of "female roles" and "gendering of IT"as they relate to the choice ofa career in the ITfield. Webelieve this theoretical lens addressesthe know ledge gap about underrepresentation inthe IT field by offering a means ofbetter understanding and articulating the varied influenceson women's career choices, brought about inpart from cultural factors.

Copyright © 2008, 1Gf Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited,

18 Journal of Global Information Management. 16(4),1-23, October-December 2008

This work also makes a contribution topractice. The problem for practice relates to ITemployers) policy makers, and IT educators.First, IT workforce employers need to developinterventions to increase the underrepresentation of women that focus on recruitment andretention. One important implication of our-findings is that these interventions must takeinto account the varied cultural influences onwomen. Thus, for example, child-care provisions may not be sufficient in some countries;elder-care or telecommuting provisions maybe needed as well. In addition, multinationalcorporations may need to consider whethertheir human resource policies are consistentwith cultural pressures on women in a particularcountry. It is also critical to recognize women'sown agency in shaping their own positions andresponses to cultural factors and their subsequent relationships with technology. As thewomen in this study have shown, a "one sizefits all" approach can be problematic,

Second, public policy can serve to enhanceor hinder the recruitment of women into andtheir retention in the IT field in very practicalways. Our findings suggest the need to (rejvisitmaternity, child-care, and elder-care policies.As pointed out in the first Irish study, tax lawsprovided a disincentive for some women toparticipate in the labor force. Policymakersinterested in redressing the gender imbalancein the IT fields of their countries can look tothe role that work leave, tax, antidiscrimination) and other such policies might be playingin either enhancing or inhibiting women'sparticipation.

Finally, precollege educators play a crucial role in increasing the underrepresentationof females in the IT field. Employers and ITeducators need to work in collaboration withprimary and secondary educational institutionsto' conduct outreach programs for students andtheir parents. By providing a face of the ITworker to whom these young women and theirparents can relate, we may be able to changeboth the image and the composition of the ITprofession.

CONCLUSIONFor those engaged in IT workforce research, it isimportant to reexamine the discourse regardingdiversification ofthe IT workforce in a criticaland broad sense: what diversity means and howto address diversification issues from multipleintegrated perspectives. Trauth et al. (2006a)argue that we should take a comprehensiveview of diversity that builds upon the notionof "diversity as difference," and include inour consideration not only demographic differences, but also socio-cultural and individualdifferences. Otherresearchers have also pointedout that the IT gender gap is not an isolatedphenomenon and stress the need to address thegender issues in conjunction with other issuessuch as class, race, ethnicity, and so on (Kvasny,2003; Naryayan, 1998).

The results presented in this article contribute to the growing body of IT workforceresearch literature that is focused on genderand the IT workforce. It does so by exam iningcultural variation in gender and IT issues. Theanalysis oftwo themes (perceptions ofwornen'srole in society and socio-cultural moderators)reveals a wide range ofinfluences on women'schoice of an IT career based upon nationalityand ethnicity. These results reinforce the need tomove away from theoretical lenses thatreinforcemonolithic analyses of gender and IT and thatassume a common experience for all women.Instead, we argue for the need to move towardmore robust and nuanced analyses that take intoaccount the wide variation of both influenceson women in the IT field and women's variedresponses to them.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTThis research was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF EfA-0204246),the Fulbright Commission) Science FoundationIreland, and the Australian Research Council.An earlier version of this work was presentedatthe ACM SIGMIS Computer Personnel Research Conference (Trauth et aI., 2006).

Copyright © 2008, lOT Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of 101 Global isprohibited.


REFERENCESAdam, A., Howcroft, D., & Richardson, H. (2002).Guesteditorial.lnformation TechnologyandPeople,]5(2), 94-97.

Adams, 1.C; Bauer, v.,& Baichoo, S. (2003, February 19-23). An expanding pipeline: Gender in Mauritius. In Proceedings ofACM SIGCSE Conference(pp. 50-63).New York: ACM Press.

Adams, 1. C; Baichoo, S., & Bauer, V. (2006).Women embrace computing in Mauritius. In E. M.Trauth (Ed.), Encyclopedia ofgender and information technology (pp. ]258-] 266). Hershey, PA: IdeaGroup.

Arnold, D., & Niederman, F. (2001). The globalworkforce. Communications of the ACM, 44(7),3]-33.

Camp, T. (2002). Reprints: The incredible shrinkingpipeline. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 34(2), 129-134.

Clarke, V.A., & Teague, G. J. (1994a). A psychological perspective on gender differences in computingparticipation. In Proceedings ofthe ACM SIGCSE/994 Conference (pp. 258-262). New York: ACMPress.

Clarke, V.A., & Teague, G. 1.(1994b). Encouraginggirls to study computerscience-- Shou Idwe even try?Australian Educational Computing, 9(1), 17-22.

Downie, R., Dryburgh, H., McMullin, 1., & Ranson,G. (2004). A profile of information technology inCanada. Workforce Aging in the New Economy International Report, Number One. Retrieved February16,2007, from http://www.wane.ca/PDFIIR1.pdf

Dumdell, A., Haag, Z., & Laithwaite, H. (2000).Computer selfefficacy and gender: A cross-culturalstudy of Scotland and Romania. Personality andIndividual Differences, 28, 1037-1044.

Ecevit, Y, Gunduz-Hosgor, A., & Tokluoglu, C.(2003). Professional women in computer programming occupations: The case of Turkey. CareerDevelopment International, 8(2), 78-87.

Eidelrnan, L., & Hazzan, O. (2005, February 23-27).Factors influencing the shrinking pipeline in highschools: A sector-based analysis for the Israeli highschool system. In Proceedings ofthe ACM SIGCSEConference (pp. 406-410). New York: ACM Press.

Eidelman, L., & Hazzan, O. (2006). The shrinkingpipeline in Israel high schools. In E. M..Trauth (Ed.),Encyclopedia ofgender andirformation teehnology(pp. 1092-1098). Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

Finquelievich, S. (2003). Civil society and thenew economy. Social Science Research Council.Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www.ssrc.org/pro grams/i tic/pubIications/know Iedge_report!memos/finquelievichmemoz.pdf

Frieze, c., Hazzan, 0., Blum, L., & Dias, M. B.(2006, March 1-5). Culture and environments asdeterminants of women's participation in computing: Revealing the "Women-C'S" fit." In Proceedingsofthe ACM SIGCSE Conference (pp. 22-26).NewYork: ACM Press.

Galpin, V. (2002). Women in computing around theworld. ACM SIGSCE Bulletin, 34(2), 94-100.

Hembry, 0., & Presley, A. (2006). iTproves to be aturnofffor women. Retrieved March] 2,2007, fromhttp://www.nzherald.co.nzJtopic/story.cfm?c_id=498&objectid=10370311

Hersh, M. (2000); The changing position ofwomenin engineering worldwide. IEEE Transactions ofEngineering Management, 47(3}, 345-359.

Huang, H. (2006). The cross-cultural dimension ofgender and information technology. In E. M.Trauth(Ed.), Encyclopedia ofgender andinformation technolog (pp. 147-153). Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

Huang, H., & Trauth, E. M. (2006). Cultural diversitychallenges: Issues for managing globally distributedknowledge workers in software development. In P.Yoong & S. Huff (Eds.), Managing IT professionals in the Internet age (pp. 254-276). Hershey, PA:Idea Group.

Huyer, S. (2005, June 12-14). Women, ICT and theinformation society: Global perspectives and initiatives. In Proceedings ofthe /nternationalSympos iumon WomenandICT:Creating Global Transformation.New York: ACM Press.

Information Technology Association of America.(2005). Untapped talent: Diversity, competition,and America s high tech future-Executive summary. Retrieved April 17, 2006, from http://www.itaa.org/eweb/upload/execsummdr05.pdf

Irwin, L. (2000). Gender inequities in technologyin developing nations: Females and computers in

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing ill print or electronic forms without written permission of1GrGlobal isprohibited.


traditional cultures. Intercultural Education, lJ(2),195-200.

Kvasny, L. (2003). Triple jeopardy: Race, Genderand class politics of women in technology. In M.Mandviwalla & E. M. Trauth (Eds.), Proceedingsofthe 2003 ACMSIGMIS Conference on ComputerPersonal Research (pp. I 12-116). New York: ACMPress.

Li, N., & Kirkup, G. (2007). Gender and culturaldifferences in Internet use: A study ofChina and theUK. Computers and Education, 48(2), 301-317.

LleweIlyn, D., & Usselman, M. (2001). Ethnic differences in female applicants to engineering and ITmajors. Seattle, WA:American Educational ResearchAssociation Conference.

Makrakis, v., & Sawada, T. (1996). Gender, computers and other school subjects among Japaneseand Swedish students. Computers and Education,26(4),225-231.

Margolis, J., & Fisher, A. (2002). Unlocking theclubhouse: Women in computing. Cambridge, MA:MIT Press.

Medeiros, C. B. (2005, June 12-14). From subject ofchangeto agent ofchange-Women and IT in Brazil.In Proceedings ofthe International Symposium onWomen and JCT: Creating Global Transformation.New York: ACM Press.

Minguez.A. M. (2005, June 12-14). New technologies as social fact: Gender and digital divide in Spainin compared perspective. In Proceedings ofthe InternationalSymposium on WomenandICT- CreatingGlobal Transformation. New York: ACM Press.

Morgan, A. 1., Quesenberry, J. L., & Trauth, E. M.(2004). Exploring the importance ofsocial networksin the IT workforce: Experiences with the 'boy'sclub.' In 1. Luftrnan (Ed.), Proceedings of theAmericas Conference on Information Systems (pp.1313-1320). New York.

Naryayan, U. (1998). Essence ofculture and a senseof history: A feminist critique of cultural essentialism. Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy,13(2),86-107.

Nielsen, S., von Hellens, L. A., Greenhill, A., &Pringle, R. (1998). Conceptualising the influenceof cultural and gender factors on students' perception of IT studies and careers. In Proceedings ofthe

1998 ACM SIGCPR Conference (pp. 86-95). NewYork: ACM Press.

Nielsen, S., von Hellens, L., Pringle, R., and Greenhill, A. (1999). Students' perceptions of informationtechnology careers: Conceptualisingthe influence ofcultural and gender factors for IT education. GATES,5( 1), 30-38.

Organization for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment. (2007). ICTs and gender. RetrievedMay 8, 2007, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/I6/33/38332121.pdf

Pan de, R. (2006). Digital divide, gender and theIndian experience in IT.In E. M. Trauth (Ed.), Encyclopedia ofgender and information technology ( pp.191-199). Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference.

Quesenberry, J. L., & Trauth, E. M. (2005). The roleof ubiquitous computing in maintaining work-lifebalance: Perspectives from women in the IT workforce.In C. Sorensen, Y.Youngjin, K. Lyytinen, & J.I. DeGross (Eds.), Designingubiquitous informationenvironments: Socio-technical issues andchallenges(pp. 43-55). New York: Springer.

Quesenberry, J. L., & Trauth, E. M. (2007). What dowomen want?: An Investigation of career anchorsamong women in the ITworkforce. In Proceedingsofthe ACMSIGMIS Computer Personnel ResearchConference (pp. J22-127). New York: ACM Press.

Quesenberry, J. L., Trauth, E. M., & Morgan, A.1. (2006). Understanding the «mommy tracks": AFramework for analyzing work-family issues in theIT workforce. Information Resources ManagementJournal, 19(2),37-53.

Rosser, S. V.(2005, June 12-14). Women and ICT:Global issues and actions. In Proceedings ofthe InternationalSymposium on WomenandlCT: CreatingGlobal Transformation. New York: ACM Press.

Sanders, 1. (2005, June 12-14). Gender and technology in education: What the research tells us.In Proceedings ofthe International Symposium onWomen and lCT' Creating Global Transformation.New York: ACM Press.

Schienstock, G. (1999). Social exclusion in thelearning economy. Paper presented at the EuropeanSocio-Economic Research Conference, Brussels,Belgium. Retrieved March 12, 2007, from http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/tyoelama/sowing/report/SocExcLeamingEcon.pdf

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of 1GIGlobal isprohibited.


Schinzel, B. (1999). The contingent constructionof the relationship between gender and computerscience. In Proceedings ofInternational Symposiumon Technology andSociety: Women and Technology(pp. 299-311). New Brunswick, NJ:

Shen, C. Y, & Ge, 1.(2006, June 12-14). Women andJCT: From the Chinese perspective. In Proceedingsofthe International Symposium on Women andlCT:Creating Global Transformation, Baltimore. NewYork: ACM Press.

Shiva, V. (1989).Stayingalive: Women,development,and ecology in India. London: Zed Press.

Staehr, L., Byrne, G., & Bell, E. (2006). Gender andthe Australian IT industry. In E. M. Trauth (Ed.),Encyclopedia ofgender andinformation technology(pp. 467-473). Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

Teague, J. (2002). Women in computing: What bringsthem to it, what keeps them in it? SIGCSE Bulletin,34(2), 147-158.

Trauth, E. M. (1995). Women in Ireland's information industry: Voices from inside. Eire-Ireland,30(3), 133-150.

Trauth, E. M. (1999). Leapfrogging an IT labor force:Multinational and indigenous perspectives. JournalofGlobal Information Management. 7(2),22-32.

Trauth, E. M. (2000). The culture ofan informationeconomy: Influences and impacts in the RepublicofIreland. Dordrecht, Germany: Kluwer AcademicPublishers.

Trauth, E. M. (200 I). Mapping information-sectorwork to the workforce: The lessons from Ireland.Communications ofthe ACM, Special Issue on TheGloballT Workforce. 44(7), 74-75.

Trauth, E. M. (2002). Odd girl out: An individualdifferences perspective on women in the IT profession. Information Technology and People, 15(2),98-118.

Trauth, E. M., & Howcroft, D. (2006). Criticalempirical research in IS: An example of gender andIT. Information Technology and People, SpecialIssue on Critical Research in Information Systems,19(3),272-292.

Trauth, E. M., Huang, 1-1., Morgan,A. 1.,Quesenberry,1. L.,& Yeo, B. (2006a). Investigating the existenceand value ofdiversity in the global IT workforce: Ananalytical framework. In F. Niederman & T. Ferratt

(Eds.), Managing information technology humanresources (pp. 331-360). Hershey, PA: InformationAge Publishing.

Trauth, E. M., Nielsen, S. H., & von Hellens, L. A.(2003). Explaining the IT gender gap: Australianstories for the new millennium. Journal ofResearchand Practice in IT, 35(1), 7-20.

Trauth, E. M., & Quesenberry, J. L. (2005, June,23- 24). Individual inequality: Women's responses inthe IT profession. In G. Whitehouse (Ed.), Proceedings ofthe Women, Work and IT Forum. Brisbane,Queensland, Australia:

Trauth, E. M., & Quesenberry, 1.(2006, December).Arewomen an underservedcommunityin the information technology profession? Paper presented at theInternational Conference on Information Systems,Milwaukee, WI.

Trauth, E. M., & Quesenberry, 1. L. (2007). Genderand the information technology workforce: Issues oftheory and practice. In P. Yoong & S. Huff (Eds.),Managing IT professionals in the Internet age (pp.18-36). Herspey, PA: Idea Group.

Trauth, E. M., Quesenberry, J., & Huang, H. (2006).Cross-cultural influences on women in the IT workforce.ln Proceedings ofthe 2006ACMSIGMiS CPRConference (pp. 12-19). New York: ACM Press.

Trauth, E. M., Quesenberry, J. L., & Morgan, A. 1.(2004). Understanding the underrepresentation ofwomen in IT: Toward a theory of individual differences. In M. Tanniru & S. Weisband (Eds.), InProceedings ofthe 2004 ACM SIGMIS Conferenceon ComputerPersonalResearch (pp. 114-119). NewYork: ACM Press.

Trauth, E. M., Quesenberry, 1. L., & Yeo, B. (2005,April, 24-31). The influence ofenvironmental contexton women in the IT workforce. Paper presented atthe ACM SIGMIS Computer Personnel ResearchConference, Atlanta, Georgia.

Trauth, E. M., Quesenberry, 1., & Yeo, B. (2008).Environmental influences on gender in the IT workforce. The data base for advances in informationsystems.

Weil, M. M., & Rosen, L. D. (1995). The psychological impactoftechnology from a global perspective: Astudy oftechnological sophistication and technophobia in university students from twenty-three countries.Computers in Human Behavior, J1( I), 95-133.

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written penniss ion of IGl Global isprohibited.


Women and Minorities in Information TechnologyForum. (1999). Causes and solutions for increasing the numbers in the workforce pipeline. Paperpresented at the Women and Minorities in Information Technology Forum, Old Dominion University,Hampton Virginia.

Workforce Aging in the New Economy. (2004).Europe, phase one: A selection ofinitialfindings onemployment diversity. Retrieved on April 16, 2006,from http://www.wane.ca/PDFfEUBriefing.pdf

Woszczynski, A., Myers, M., Beise, C., & Moody, J.(2004. August 5-8). Diversity within the ranks: HowEthnicity affects choices in IT Paper presented at the10th Americas Conference on Information Systems(AMCIS), New York.

ENDNOTES

The Japanese cultural norm of"Ryosai Kenbo"(translated to "good wife, clever mother") canbe traced back to the late 1800s during the Meijireign. It is still influential today for Japanesegirls from all social classes to pursue:an education that is suitable for a good wife and clevermother.

The second and third authors were involved inthe data analysis for the United States and thesecond Irish studies.

For a complete set of factors examined in thislarger study see Trauth (2000, pp. 387-390).

In the case ofthe two Irish studies and the Australian/New Zealand study women throughout

10

the country were interviewed. In the case oftheAmericanstudy the geographical representationwas limited to three states: Massachusetts, NorthCarolina, and Pennsylvania. This was donebecause of the size of the American population in contrast to that of Ireland, Australia,and New Zealand. Limiting the geographicalrepresentation, thus, facilitated more focusedsocio-cultural analysis. (See, for example,Trauth et al., 2008.)

The Australian/New Zealand transcripts werecoded by the first and second authors.

A retrieval system based on Foxpro was developed.

QSR N6.

Age data was not collected for all participantsin the original Ireland and Australian studies.Hence, the age statistics do not include information for 25 Irish women and 10 women fromthe Australian/New Zealand study.

Relationship status was not collected for allparticipants in the original Ireland and Australian/New Zealand studies. Hence, the relationsh ip statistics do not include information for 25Irish women and 31 AustralianlNew Zealandwomen.

Motherhood status was not collected for allparticipants in the original Ireland and AustralianJNew Zealand studies. Hence, the motherhood statistics do not include information for25Irish women and 31AustralianlNewZealandwomen.

APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW TOPICS

First Irish Study (1990)Demographic background (country oforigin, country of residence at time of interview)Personal background (educational background, IT work experience)Experiences as a woman working in the IT field in Ireland

Australian/New Zealand Study (2000)Demographic background (country oforigin, country of residence at time of interview)Personal background (educational background, IT work experience)Experiences as a woman working in the IT field in Australia or New Zealand

Copyright e 2008, lGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited.

Journal ofGlobaJ Information Management, 16(4), 1-23, October-December 2008 23

US and Second Irish Study (2002-2006, 2003)Demographic background (age, race/ethnicity, country of origin, country of residence at timeof interview)Personal background (relationship status, parenthood status, educational background, IT workexperience)Experiences as a woman working in the IT field in the U.S. or Ireland

Note: While for the two earlier studies the question about experiences as an IT professionalin the country was asked in a very open-ended fashion, for these two studies the questions weremore directive. That is, participants were specifically asked to discuss significant influences oncareer progression such as people and experiences in their lives. Nevertheless, women in eachstudy were asked to relate their experiences as an IT professional to the societal and culturalcontext in which they lived, studied, and worked. Thus there was consistency in the data thatwere collected and used in this article.

Eileen M Trauth is associate dean and professor of information sciences and technology at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research is concerned with societal, cultural and organizational influenceson information technology and the information technology professions with a special focus on the role ofdiversity within the field. As a Fulbright Scholar in Ireland. Dr. Trauth undertook a multi-year investigation ofsocio-cultural influences on the emergence ofIreland's information economy. She has also analyzedcultural, econom ic, infrastructure andpublicpolicy influences on thedevelopment ofinformation technologyoccupational clusters in the u.s. Dr. Trauth has investigated gender under representation in the information technology professions in Australia, New Zealand. Ireland and the United States with grants from theNational Science Foundation and Science Foundation Ireland In 2008 she held a Fulbright Distinguishedchair ingender studies in Aus/ria. She has alsopublishedpapers and books on qualitative research methods.global informatics, information policy, information management and information systems skills.

Jeria L. Quesenberry is a assistant teaching professor in the information systems program at CarnegieMellon University. Her doctoral dissertation examined career values and motivations ofwomen in theinformation technology (IT) workforce and the influence these factors have on their career retention decisions. Her current research interests are directed at investigations ofthe demands and motivations ofIT human capital, and the comparison ofhow these professionals react to their workplace environment,administrative structures. technologies and policies that accommodate them. She received her PhD fromthe College ofInformation Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University.

Haiyan Huang is a doctoral candidate at the College of Information Sciences and Technology at thePennsylvania State University. Her research and teaching interests include global information systemsdevelopment, global IT offshore outsourcing, virtual teams, computer supported cooperative work andlearning, knowledge management, knowledge economy, and global IT workforce development. She haspublishedjournal articles, book chapters and conference papers in these areas. Her doctoral dissertationisfocused at studying how cultural issues influence globally distributed information systems developmentand how to effectively manage these issues.

Copyright © 200&,IGTGlobal. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global isprohibited.

a multicultural analysis of factors influencing career ... · pdf filea multicultural analysis...

Documents