Organization and Industry Related Issues

The results show that the average number of male team members is six and the average number of female team members is three. Management positions are however, more male-dominated with 78 percent of respondents indicating a male immediate superior, and only 22 percent a female.

Although they are mostly satisfied with the management style of their superiors, they are undecided about the general management style in the organization.

The majority of respondents (86 percent) feel there is still gender bias in the IT Industry and 71 percent agree that employers still have the attitude that women employees will at some stage leave and have a family, with 73 percent indicating that the fact that a woman could have a family affects her career path.

An alarming 73 percent indicate that they have experienced discrimination. An industry breakdown indicated that IT-companies (as opposed to Banking or Insurance) are the worst offenders.

Eighty-six percent of the respondents agree that women are under-represented in the IT field, and an overwhelming 94 percent agree that women are under-represented in the IT executive and management teams. Most organizations (83 percent) do not have equal representation of male and female managers. An explanation for the sharp decline of respondents in the over-45 age category may be the fact that 70 percent of respondents report a perceived glass ceiling for women in the industry.

Stress is a factor for women in IT, with 76 percent indicating that it is stressful to balance work and personal life. However, 63 percent of the respondents believe that the stress of the IT environment is worth the rewards, with 49 percent indicating that stress is a factor that will influence them to leave the IT-Industry.

Nearly all respondents (97 percent) believe that women have special skills that they can contribute to the work environment, but that these skills are not valued by employers (66 percent).

Most respondents (64 percent) agree that gender stereotypes influence women's decisions to enter the IT-Industry. While respondents are undecided about being treated differently when getting married (49 percent/51 percent), 79 percent agree that women are treated differently once they start a family or have other family commitments. These perceptions are confirmed by the agreement of the respondents with regard to the status of women in the ITindustry being influenced by:

  • Being a single woman (67 percent)

  • Being a working mother (78 percent)

  • Being an older woman (72 percent)

Many of the respondents (58 percent) feel issues faced by women in South African IT are the same worldwide.



Managing Globally with Information Technology
Managing Globally with Information Technology
ISBN: 193177742X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 224

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