Riding a hydra: Women ICT professionals' perceptions of working in the Australian ICT industry

Purpose – This paper seeks to identify aspects of work environment, culture or expectations that contributed to women's comfort or discomfort within the information and communication technology (ICT) industry.Design/methodology/approach – The study is empirical in nature and addresses the perspectives of 178 professional women currently working within the Australian ICT industry who responded to the “Women in ICT” survey conducted through James Cook University. Likert‐scale responses were subjected to principal component analysis and then K‐mean cluster analysis, distinguishing four groups of respondents. Explanations for group membership were then sought from responses to open‐ended survey questions.Findings – There was common agreement among respondents that, when making their career decisions, they had expected to enjoy good community image, and that their work would be socially useful, satisfying and flexible. Respondents also agreed that careers in ICT are rewarding, and provide opportunities, and di...

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