Demystifying the shrinking pipeline of women in ICT education and careers : a South African case study

Abstract

This research is an attempt to verify certain myths surrounding the causes for the low numbers of women participating in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education and careers through both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The paper approaches this issue through the experiences of women in an ICT workplace in comparison with those of men in the same workplace. This investigation was conducted in the form of case study at South Africa's Advanced African Institute for ICTs – the Meraka Institute. The research found that the ICT environment was engendered, with women representing only a small percentage of the staff. This is because of a weakness in the school curriculum which does not expose large numbers of girls to ICTs at an early age, and does not give adequate support at university and college levels to learners who have come out of such an environment.. Although women are just as capable as men in the ICT workplace, building self-confidence in their abilities to perform well on the job could help in retaining them. The research found that those women who are already in the ICT market are happy and do perform as well as their male counterparts irrespective of their family commitments, long working hours and the demand for networking opportunities. Happiness in the ICT workplace among female employees is determined by a combination of factors such as levels of remuneration, output potential and management style. To improve women's participation in this workplace, there is a need to improve policies for recruitment and on-the-job training and sometimes even adopting affirmative action to provide better-balanced gender representation.