The Access, Influences and Motivations of Women Studying Information Technology in New Zealand

This study aimed at investigating the different factors that influence men and women to study IT in New Zealand. A comparison of the type of access, influential people and personal motivations was made between men and women studying IT in New Zealand. The data for this study was collected from 148 participants, 42 of which were women. The results show that there are specific people namely friends, fathers, brothers, teachers and partners in women’s lives and friends and fathers in men’s lives that influence their decision to study IT. The access men and women had to computers was found to be largely the same across genders. The majority of men and women were introduced to computers at home between the ages of 6 and 12 and both genders reported having high access at home and university and limited access at primary and secondary school. The nature of their access differed between genders and age groups. Finally, in terms of motivation, men and women were found to have different weightings of motivation for studying a career in IT. Men tended to have more intrinsic motivations, for example interest and enjoyment, whereas women had more extrinsic motivations, for example job opportunities.