Examining the Obstacles to Broadening Participation in Computing: Evidence from a Survey of Professional Workers

This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented under representation of women in information technology jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly-growing IT industries. (JEL J08, J24, J70) This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0204464. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.