Women in the South African IT sector want equal pay, flexible hours and more respect, according to a survey conducted by the Department of Information Systems at the University of Cape Town.
The study was undertaken at the end of last year, to determine the perceptions of women working in the local IT industry, where only around 20% of workers are female.
The Women in IT study, spearheaded by lecturer Nata van der Merwe, found that - in line with overall IT staffing trends in SA - most women in the SA IT industry (79.72%) are white and more than half are under the age of 35. Most of the respondents are based either in Gauteng or the Western Cape.
The respondents in the study overwhelmingly indicated that flexitime, work from home and equal pay for equal work were very important to them, while only 43% said they wanted reduced working hours. Despite this, 57% reported that their companies had a culture of working excessively long hours. Many women (71%) felt that their salaries were not on par with those of their male colleagues, and 83% said women were under-represented in management.
The researchers believe there was a sharp drop in respondents over the age of 45 because 68% of women perceived a glass ceiling for women in the industry.
In response to questions about their working conditions, 76% of the respondents said balancing work and personal life was stressful, with 49% saying that stress was a factor that could influence them to leave the IT industry. In contrast, 63% said the stress of the IT environment was worth the rewards.
Most respondents (62%) agreed that gender stereotypes influenced women`s decisions to enter the IT industry. Fewer than half of the respondents were married (47.5%) and respondents said they were treated differently when their personal circumstances changed, for example when they got married or started a family.
The main problem areas highlighted by more than half the respondents included time, management style of superiors, personal and professional trade-offs, sexism, training and re-skilling opportunities, lack of childcare facilities at work and family commitments.
Van der Merwe says the study was undertaken in an attempt to determine why such a small proportion of IT workers are women, and to determine how their careers progress after they receive their qualifications. Few studies have been carried out to look specifically at women working in the IT sector, and the researchers say it is probably the most comprehensive study of its kind in the world at the moment. The results are expected to be of international interest, say the researchers, because the IT industry in SA relates well to what is happening in First World countries.
The results of the study will be presented at the Information Resources Management conference in Seattle in May. The full study report is available at http://itwoman.co.za.
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