Identity and interests

According to Alvesson et al. (2008), when examining women’s career development, it is important to first understand the relationship between self, work, and organization, or in other words, their identities. Therefore, this study deems it relevant to investigate whether the identities of the respondents count as influencing factors for their experiences in the field of IT. As identities are shaped by socio-cultural processes (Gendered Innovation, n.d.), this section of the study will examine to what extent the respondents were influenced by socio-cultural norms. This is done by investigating how the respondents gained an interest in IT. The extent to which the identities of women are influenced by socio-cultural norms can be measured by the degree of stereotype threat influence (Hill et al., 2010), which affects the development of interest for a subject or field. Hence, determining how the respondents gained an interest for IT will illuminate the degree to which they have been affected by stereotype threat, and thus, the extent to which their identities are affected by socio-cultural norms.

When asking the participants what about the field of IT that caught their interest initially, the responses were varied, but the main recurring theme was exposure. Firstly, there was exposure through upbringing. For two of the 11 respondents, their parents may have acted as main catalysts for them gaining an interest in IT. Nora’s parents both studied at DTU and her mother works in IT.

She grew up being told by her parents that there is no such thing as gendered work and that she could do what she wants.

I have to mention that both my parents have a degree from DTU and my mom works with

IT. So I may have gotten it into my head, from when I was a child, that it is absolute bullshit

that women can’t work with software.

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In that way, they both served as role models for her, and they sought to eliminate stereotypes on IT workers. Charlotte first became interested in IT through her father. His hobby revolved around computers and in that way she developed a natural interest for them as well.

Already when I chose my studyline… I studied cand.merc.dat, I believe it is called cand.merc.it now… And it was partly inspired by my father, who always spent a lot of time disassembling stuff, and he had a lot of computers in the basement, etc.

As noted by Henn (2014), the most prominent theory behind the decline in the number of women in IT is that PCs introduced to the household often ended up in the hands om male family members, as they were associated with boys. Resultantly, boys grow up more exposed to technology. In the households of Nora and Charlotte, this has not been the case. Their parents ensured that they grew up with access to a computer. Thus, it would appear that Nora and Charlotte’s identities were influenced more by their parents than they were by socially constructed norms of the field.

Most of the respondents were, however, exposed to IT through coincidence. Olivia got exposed to IT through different school and job experiences.

That was many years ago. I was only good at math, and then we could choose EDB as an elective in tenth grade which I also chose. Then again, I am also an atypical girl because I am a trained electrician and the technical aspect of that was interesting to me. However, I could not get a job because there was a lot of unemployment going around, so I ended up in a wholesale company where they had a lot of data and components that I knew of. In that way, it turned out to be IT and data work that caught my interest.

Emma got exposed to IT as her work in telecommunications became more and more technical.

But I think what I learned was that stuff became more and more technical, that

telecommunications went from taking place over the phone to being about data. And it

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became more and more technical, so the natural next step was to move towards the IT world.

Sophia gradually got more exposed to IT without there being a designated turning point. She studied to become a cultural communicator and got a Masters in information science. Gradually, she got more into information sociology and suddenly she found herself interested in IT.

Yes, I think it was probably something of a coincidence. My original education is a Masters in information science from the Danish Library School, and then I thought I was going to be like a kultural communicator, and from there I got more and more into this sociology of science. I got really caught up in that, especially the IT part of it. So that was kind of where it began. But it is not like I just woke up one day and thought “I should probably work with IT!

Clara is somewhat a special case as she got exposed to IT through her studies in mathematics.

Therefore, she was already studying a STEM subject when stumbling upon IT.

Well, I have a degree in mathematics, so I belong to the theoretical department more, but I always wanted to be able to apply it practically. One can say that everyone from the world of mathematics ends up in IT because education wise, this is where the subject area lies.

Maybe I always thought it to be exciting. I have spent a lot of time cultivating this data modeling thing and database knowledge, etc. So I have had my share of self-study, so when I applied for this job, I was not entirely sure that I was able to do what was required, but I have learned that along the way.

What can be said about these last four women is that although they did not get exposed to IT as

children but as adults, none of them entered the field on purpose and it happened gradually. In that

way, their identities were never changed subconsciously through the influence of prevailing

stereotypes or norms of the field. Thus, my initial assumption is that these women were never

subject to stereotype threat, which could be why they did not actively try to avoid IT work.

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From this, it can be deduced that more than 50% of the informants either gained an interest for IT through coincidental exposure or through their parents. A lack of exposure and the transmission of stereotypes through generations was mentioned as major factors for women’s decreased interest in IT compared to their male counterparts in the literature. A lack of exposure and the transmission of stereotypes through generations are said to decrease interests for IT, thus, an increase in exposure and the removal of generationally transmitted stereotypes must have the opposite effect on women’s interest for IT (Pollock et al., 2004; Shapiro et al. 2011). This theory conforms with my findings.

However, my findings also include factors for gaining an interest in IT that are not mentioned in the literature. Three of the eleven respondents gained an interest in IT through different factors.

Fillippa’s main purpose for career development was that she wanted to make a difference for other people. She initially wanted to become a doctor but did not have a GPA that allowed for it. IT was becoming a larger and larger aspect of people’s lives at the time, and she believed that working with IT would be the second best option for making a difference. Specifically, she had noticed how hospitals heavily rely on technology to function, wherefore she ended up working for a company dedicated to improving hospital equipment.

Well, my original reason for getting an IT education did actually not have that much to do with IT itself. It was more about wanting to make something that could make a difference for other people, and I did not have a GPA that would have allowed me to become a doctor for instance, or some other similarly popular education … At this time, it was a topic how IT was going to become a bigger and bigger part of our everyday lives and, therefore, I thought that it would probably be useful in making a difference somehow … Besides being able to see how much IT was taking over at the library and other places very early, I was hospitalized with cancer as a kid. There, I could see all these machines, and how they could help, and that has probably been a part of why I thought that IT also could be a way.

Mia started her educational path with a bachelors in communication and digital media. This

bachelor is not very IT heavy and has a 50/50 gender balance. However, through her bachelors she

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became fascinated with the link between people and technology through communication. Thus, her interest in IT was founded, and she chose to enroll in a masters of information science.

When I started studying, I selected (her subjects) broadly because I was not sure what I wanted exactly. Then I read something about communication and digital media, and through that I realized that what I actually found exciting, was this people and technology thing. Not this hardcore idea of building or creating something, but more like the interaction between people and technology. To me, it was very exciting how we use our computers and how we interact with apps or user stuff. I spent a lot of time thinking about usability. How we design and apply solutions. This whole thing was how I got into that, but I quickly discovered that it was people and technology and the communication between people and technology that was exciting to me.

The last of the three respondents, Emily, wanted a job where she could work creatively. She enrolled in a vocational academic education where she practiced graphical design. This led to her getting a bachelor's degree in digital concept development, where she found a link between technology and design while writing her bachelor’s thesis. Subsequently, she began her masters in digital design and interactive technologies at the Danish IT University.

It occured to me how creative the field of IT can be. And as a person I am very creative, so I

was looking for a field where I could combine my creativity with technology. It can be said

that it was quite a coincidence how I discovered IT and design. I did so by applying for a study

for which I did not entirely know what it entailed… This is the one called Digital Concept

Development, right? Through that study I found out that I would rather… When I applied for

that study, I initially thought that I was interested in marketing and brand-design, but after

having tried that out though an internship, I realized that this was not what i wanted. It was

in connection with my bachelor project that I got acquainted with the world of IT, and then

I applied for my Masters at ITU shortly after.

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These three women arguably differ from the rest in the way they perceive IT work. As previously presented, Linda Sax believes that children become convinced that STEM-subjects belong to a masculine domain through socialization, while growing up, and that this affects educational and career choices (Ringgard, 2017). However, creativity and communication are typically considered

‘soft’ skills, and soft skills are typically attributed feminine values (DeAngelis, 2021; Moser, 2013).

Additionally, Mikkola (2019) argues that caring for others is a feminine trait. Thus, when Fillippa gained an interest for IT by caring for others, Mia gained an interest for IT through her fascination with communication, and Emily gained an interest for IT through her wanting to work creatively, they did so by adhering to their feminine values. Two things can be deducted from this. Firstly, There are factors that contribute to an increase in interest for IT among these women that are not widely discussed in gender and technology literature. Secondly, although previously proven by researchers, like in Linda Sax’s study, that children become convinced that STEM-subjects belong to a masculine domain through socialization, those convictions will not necessarily persist in women. The three above mentioned respondents all found their own feminine angle to approach IT from. Therefore, it can be established that women do not necessarily need to share masculine values in order to find a place in the field of IT.

The last two participants will be excluded from this part of the analysis as they appear to have stumbled upon IT either at random or without being able to explain why. Amelia needed a new job and picked the first best course from a course catalog without giving it much thought.

Well, that was quite a coincidence actually. It was pretty wild. I was working as an air traffic

controller for the Danish Air Force for many years. At some point they decided to move the

Air Force headquarters to Jutland. I was then told that I had to move to Krarup, and as a true

child of Copenhagen, I did not really feel like relocating across the heath. Then I applied for

an air traffic controller position in the Copenhagen airport, and they also wanted to hire me

for their military department, but I had a boss at the time who really thought that I should

go to Krarup with him, so he stamped my papers “not recommended”. I went into a rage

over how he could just do that now where everything had fallen into place, so I took a large

catalog we had - at the time there was no internet - with what was called FCU (civilian

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education acquired through the military). I picked the first best course, which happened to be a data mechanic course.

Isabella could not explain why she entered the field of IT. She just thought it sounded like a fun field to work in. Thus, how an interest for IT was founded is not to say with certainty.

I don’t really know what to say. I worked in performance operations and got a *inaudible*.

I just found it to be fun.

In this section, I established that the interest for IT among the respondents were gained in either of

the following two ways: The first way that some of the women gained an interest for IT was through

exposure and upbringing. Thus, the interest for IT came about through gradual development. The

second way that some of the women gained an interest for IT was by adhering to their already

established interest. These interests, whether it be for creativity, communication or making a

difference for others, revealed themselves to coincide with aspects of the IT field, resulting in a

match of interests. Thus, the interest for IT came about in the form of a sudden revelation. These

two interest-developing processes have aligned individual interests and values with those of the IT

field, however, the findings show that these women still experience difficulties and challenges

despite having found a field of work that matches their interests and values. The following sections

are dedicated to exploring this phenomenon.

In document THE GENDER GAP IN THE DANISH IT SECTOR (Sider 38-44)