Embracing intersectionality in gender and IT career choice research

Abstract

Results of an examination of with-gender variation in gender stereotypes about the skills and knowledge in the IT profession demonstrates the value of applying an intersectionality perspective in the study of under represented groups in the IT field. Focusing on gender or ethnicity, alone, is insufficient to explain the under representation of women and minorities in IT careers. Rather, we believe that stratifying the population in a more nuanced manner, such as by gender within ethnic group, provides deeper insights into the phenomenon of under representation. Hence, this research approaches the topic of gender and the IT profession from the perspective of intersectionality of gender and ethnicity. Within-gender analysis reveals variation in gender stereotyping by gender-ethnic group. White females and minority males (i.e. Black and Hispanic males) exhibited the most masculine stereotyping of IT skills. In contrast, White males and minority females (i.e. Black and Hispanic females) exhibited the fewest. Three themes emerge from this research. First, the skills that will be increasingly important in the future in distinguishing equivalently credentialed IT professionals were not absorbed into the "masculine" category. Second, hegemonic masculine traits appear to be deeply entrenched in the next generation of IT professionals. Third, when peering more deeply into the gender stereotyping of skills by respondent demographics, what emerges is a pattern that emphasizes the critical role of intersectionality in gender analyses of the IT profession.