Susan Hilary Nielsen

Breaking and entering the male domain. Women in the IT industry

Interviews with Australian IT professionals (twenty-two women and two men) working in technical areas are referenced to explore how the masculinity of the IT industry is perceived by women working as IT professionals. The skills the interviewees see as important for success in this industry and which have helped them to pursue a satisfactory and fulfilling career are also discussed. Mentoring is suggested as a means of changing young womens negative perceptions or IT as a career, in order to improve female participation in IT education and the IT industry.

Australian women in IT0

■ The IT skills shortage in Australia is a complex problem involving human resource management, education, and social factors. A notable part of the problem is the declining participation there of women in IT education and work over the past two decades. A longitudinal study we’ve been conducting since 1995—called Women in Information Technology, or WinIT—of Australian high school students, university students studying IT, and female IT professionals suggests that cultural factors influence both the decision by women to enter the IT industry and the success of female IT professionals. The high percentage (about 40% of all female students) from Asian backLiisa von Hellens

People, business and IT skills: the perspective of women in the IT industry

This paper discusses professional womens perceptions of the skills required for working in the information technology (IT) industry with respect to the skills women bring to IT work and how the skills contribute to their career progression. The paper references interviews with ten women IT professionals who were asked to describe their entry into the IT industry, their perceptions of IT careers and the skills requirements for success. It was found that an ability to switch between different types of skills (people skills and technical skills) and to adapt to different IT environments contributed to the career progression of women in the IT industry. In the newer areas of IT such as electronic commerce, the ability to switch between one skill set to another is important for the success of such applications. It is suggested that the misrepresentation of the specialization available in the IT industry is an important factor contributing to the gender gap at higher managerial levels and it can only be closed if the range of skills, aptitudes and career paths are made clear to the women.

Qualitative Case Studies on Implementation of Enterprise Wide Systems

The book brings together recent qualitative research studies in enterprise-wide implementations. The collection is useful as a teaching case for academia, a student reference and also for academics, researchers and IT practitioners who wish to gain a broad view of ERP implementation success and failure, The book provides relevant methodologies and recent empirical research findings in the area and includes sufficient background information for an understanding of each case but focuses on providing a rich description of more than a dozen real life cases.

Searching for a Methodology for Smart Internet Technology Development

Participatory Design is an approach to the design of computer-based systems and software that involves the users to a much greater extent than traditional design approaches and draws on diverse fields such as “user-centred design, graphic design, software engineering, architecture, public policy, psychology, anthropology, sociology, labor studies, communication studies, and political science” (Kuhn and Muller, 1993).