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IT (ICT) Career Choice and Interest

IT (ICT) Career Choice and Interest. Presentation by Dr. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Creamere@vt.edu To the Faculty and Staff at Pennsylvania State University February 27, 2006. Virginia Tech Women and Information Technology Project

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IT (ICT) Career Choice and Interest

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  1. IT (ICT) Career Choice and Interest Presentation by Dr. Elizabeth G. Creamer, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Creamere@vt.edu To the Faculty and Staff at Pennsylvania State University February 27, 2006 Virginia Tech Women and Information Technology Project Research supported by the National Science Foundation (#0120458) 1

  2. Goals for Today’s Presentation • Provide an overview of a statistical model developed to predict women’s interest and choice of a career in IT. • Provide “broad stroke” information on differences between IT majors and potential majors at point 1 and 2. • Get input about areas for future analysis of the data that will be helpful to PSU. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  3. Some literature about recruiting women to IT • At best, most institutions are committing only moderate effort to recruiting women (Cohoon, 2005). • A number of traditional recruiting strategies have a negative impact on women’s interest in IT (Cohoon, 2005). • The expectation of programming experience adversely impacts the enrollment of women in undergraduate IT and related majors (Blum, Frieze, Hazzan, & Dias, 2005). • The “fun factor.” Both young men and young women want a career that is “fun” (Beyer, 2005) PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  4. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  5. Have familiarity with the nature of work in IT. Derive satisfaction from using computers to solve programs. Feel they could succeed in IT if chose to. Know people who work in IT. 5. Believe they would feel comfortable working in a male-dominated field. 6. Working in IT is a career option they are considering. 7. Believe that parents consider IT a good career choice. Summary: Key Qualities of Women with an Interest in a Career in IT PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  6. IT Interest - Changes Over Time(College Only) • At all points in time, women express significantly less interest than men in a career in IT. • Both men and women express significantly more interest in IT at point 2 than point 1, suggesting something positive about the environment. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  7. Variables with a DIRECT Effect on Female IT Career Choice and Interest • VARIABLE 1: Race • VARIABLE2: Parental support • VARIABLE 3: Positive attitudes about the attributes of ITworkers • VARIABLE4: Amount of computer use • VARIABLE 5: Information Sources PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  8. Positive Attitudes Parental Support Career Interest & Career Choice Information Source Computer Use Race 2005 Career Interest & Choice Model PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  9. Key Points • Central to the model and our findings is a construct we call, information orientation. • There is, for women, a negative relationship between information and interest in IT. • Women often report that they would only “hear” career advice for people they trust and that circle is very small and close to home. This has particularly strong implications for lower SES women. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  10. IT Career Interest & Choice Receptivity Decision Orientation Information Source Information Credibility Parental Support 2005 Career Choice & Interest Model 2005 Career Interest & Choice Model PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  11. Support for the importance of a career Perception that parents have an idea of an “appropriate” career choice The extent that they encourage career exploration Direct impact on IT career choice and interest Direct impact on all the variables related to information seeking except decision orientation Variable 2: Parental Support PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  12. Variable 2: Parental SupportChanges over Time * • Differences in support from parents not statistically significant by gender. • Women report slightly less parental support for IT and the amount of support is less at point 2 than point 1. • Men report more parental support and it increases over time. *College point 1 and 2 PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  13. It’s easy in case like this: ZP148 …Then I started talking to my family members and most of them are computer engineers or computer scientists and project managers. My dad started talking to me and he’s the vice president for a company and is into networking and Citrix and that kind of stuff so I thought that might be where my interests are. So the next summer I went to Harvard and took intro to web development and communication protocols and loved it so I came to the decision that I wanted to be in a field related to computers. Then I had to choose between computer science and IST. I went to [another university] because I got accepted to their computer science school and I figured out it’s not for me. It was too much coding and not enough thinking outside the box which I’ve always been a big fan of. I want to be a CEO or something, I don’t want to be sitting behind a computer screen coding all day. Maybe that would be fine for my first job but I want something that would teach me how to be a project manager and the etiquette of it. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  14. About the attributes of IT workers: Agree that IT workers are interesting, hard-working, smart, and creative Disagree that IT workers are geeks, likely to be male, and loners/antisocial. Directly impacts IT career choice and interest. Directly impacts computer use. Directly impacts likelihood of seeking input about career options (receptivity). Variable 3: Attitudes about the Attributes of IT Workers PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  15. Variable 3: Attitudes about IT Workers-- Changes over Time (College Only) • Both men’s and women’s attitudes are more negative [stereotypical] at point 1 than point 2, suggesting that programmatic activities reinforce stereotypical views of IT workers. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  16. Class Activities/Peers Communicate Attitudes About a Career in the Field ZP124 Q: Are you in classes that are predominately males or females? A: Most of the classes have about 50 people in them and less than 10 are girls so it’s not a great percentage and everything we do is group work so my groups have about six people in them and I’m normally the only girl in my group. Q: How does that feel? A: It’s intimidating sometimes. Sometimes guys can be a little hard to work with, they don’t think girls know what guys know and you have to sometimes prove yourself twice as hard just for them to accept you. You’re always trying to do more to show them you can do it and just as good as they can. Sometimes it’s hard and once and a while it’s nice to have another girl in the group. ZP141 Q: What about your classes and being one of the only girls? A: It’s definitely different. When were in groups and there’s one girl they think they’re going to get an A because she will do all the work. I said I’ll be the group leader but I’m not going to do it all. There is a guy in some of my classes that will laugh when a girl can’t answer a question, but he got asked a question and didn’t know it either. For the most part, no one really cares that I’m a woman and in this major. I don’t look at this major like I’m a woman I just see something I want and I’m going to work to get it. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  17. Frequency of use of different applications Communication games general entertainment general tasks development or design to complete homework assignments Directly impacts IT career choice and interest. The more frequently female students use computers, the greater their interest in IT. Variable 4: Computer Use PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  18. Variable 4: Computer Use -- Increases between Point 1 and Point 2 -- College Only • For both men and women, frequency of computer use increases over time. • Women use computers significantly less frequently than men at the two points in time. • This is significant because greater use is associated with greater interest in IT. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  19. How often did participants talk with others about career options? Parents other family members Teachers counselors or advisors male or female friends family friends employers. Direct impact on IT career choice and interest For women at point 1, there is a negative link between information source and IT career interest! Variable 5: Information Source(Frequency of Communication) PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  20. Information Sources beyond the Family ZP177 Q: Your teacher in the programming class, you said was in encouraging, can you think of one or two things he might have said that really stuck with you? A: When we got to class we would pretty much just talk for about ten minutes and then we would work on the computers and he might help us and it was a really relaxed class. He would definitely compliment you a lot if you were doing really good, he did for me a lot, he would say I was such a good programmer and things like that. He said since I was a girl I would make more money than the guys and he was talking about what you could do with it. He said every person that leaves his class ends up making more money than him. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  21. Information Sources Outside the Family Rare Unless the Student Has a Reason not to Listen to Them Q: In any kind of decision or just ones like these? A: For a while I didn’t think my parents really know. Just like any teacher, I didn’t think they know what they’re talking about. They told me that I should come here and I said no I didn’t want to go here. I came up here to visit and I talked to the people who went here and they liked it and I believed what they said because my dad didn’t go to college and my mom went to a really small school so I believed the kids who went to school there. They influenced me a lot. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  22. Surprising Findings: For Women Less is More • One of our most significant findings is the negative link between information source and IT Career Interest and Choice. • Less communication equals a greater interest in IT. • The relationship has not been tested for point 2. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  23. Three Possible Interpretationsof Negative Finding • Female students are discouraged from an interest in a career in IT. • Female students are not listening to people who encourage them to consider IT, particularly when the advice is at odds with what is provided by trusted others. • The more female students talk with people, the more they get negative information about IT careers from them. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  24. Recommendations for Recruiting • Female students who enjoy using computers and have positive attitudes about IT workers, but have yet to consider IT seriously as a career option, are a “target rich” population for activities, like summer camps and other programs which are critically to expanding the SES of those interested in IT. • It is not as simple as getting up-to-date career information in the hands of potential recruits. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  25. Recommendations for Recruiting [Women] to IT • Parents have a huge influence on career interest and choice. It is important to find effective ways to educate them about new and emerging fields and to involve them in activities related to career choice. • Evaluate if recruiting practices implicitly reinforce the idea of computing as a masculine domain/activity (e.g. male recruiters, male “un-cool” icons). PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

  26. Recommendations for Recruiting • In the pre-college and early college years, as long as there is enjoyment of using computers for problem solving, little detailed knowledge about IT may not be such a bad thing, particularly for women. • Emphasize that assignments can be fun, even as they are challenging. • Emphasizing potential income is not an effective strategy for recruiting women to a career in IT. PSU 2/27/06 http://www.clahs.vt.edu/WIT/

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