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.
