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Rebooting the System and Building New Futures: Supporting Women's Comeback in IT

Published: 18 September 2024 Publication History

Abstract

Despite the slow growth in the number of women in the IT sector, there has been a notable increase in the technology events and communities explicitly aimed at women. Recognizing the diverse nature of women interested in entering or remaining in the IT field, it is crucial to understand the factors driving them. This study addresses the need to understand the diverse motivations of women seeking to enter or continue their careers in IT. By analyzing online survey data (N = 513) of Finnish women career-changers, our research explores the distinct motivational factors that attract career changers compared to retraining those already working in the IT industry. We also investigate the influence of 'Women in Tech' programs and communities in supporting these career transitions. Findings indicate varied motivational drivers between the two groups, underscoring the importance of tailored attraction and retention strategies. The study also reveals the significant role of 'Women in Tech' kind of initiatives in offering essential support and resources for women navigating their way into the IT field. Overall, our attraction and retention theory of women in the IT sector can assist educational providers and companies in better understanding career-changers and women in technology and, in that way, support the work to bring women back into the IT industry after decades of underrepresentation in the field.

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cover image ACM Conferences
GE@ICSE '24: Proceedings of the 5th ACM/IEEE Workshop on Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering
April 2024
70 pages
ISBN:9798400705755
DOI:10.1145/3643785
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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Published: 18 September 2024

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  1. software engineering communities
  2. career-change
  3. women in STEM
  4. gender bias
  5. talent attraction
  6. talent retention

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