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Researchers initially believed that since IT is a relatively young field, traditional barriers for the advancement of women existing in the more established or older professional fields, e.g., old boys' networks, the lack of female role models and mentors, and other established perceptions and biases leading to discriminatory practices, would not affect the IT Industry (Ahuja, 2002). However, the results of our study indicate that this is not the case.
The results of the study give a clearer picture of what women in the IT Industry really wants. It was found that contrary to popular belief; women do not want to work fewer hours or part-time and are not overly concerned about child-care facilities at work. Women, however, do want the following:
Flexi-time
Equal pay for equal work
To work from home
Respect for their technical abilities
To be valued for the special skills that they can contribute to the work environment
Follow-up research is already underway to investigate the areas of concern and to gather more input to establish what would make the industry more attractive for women. Two of the most prominent related current research areas are: a study to get the male viewpoint, as well as an exploratory investigation into ethnic imbalances within the South African IT Industry.
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