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- 1. + Women in Information Technology: An Analysis of the IT’s Work Environment and "Brogramming" Culture Mylinh Pham Class of 2017 Anthropology Major, Computer Science Minor Liberal Arts Research Collaborative 2015
- 2. + Current State of Affairs 1.4 million computer jobs by 2018 39% of jobs will be filled by U.S. undergraduates 56% of women are leaving technology 2
- 3. + “Brogramming” Culture Similar to “Boys Club” Frat bro association Exclusive and sexist Masculinity over femininity 3
- 4. + Research Questions Does the “brogramming” culture exist? How does it affect a female’s experience? With whom is it most prevalent? Supervisors? Co-Workers? 4
- 5. + The Approach Analyze current literature Create a survey Distributed through e-mail Collected responses for 1 month 5
- 7. + Survey Survey Population 38 Participants 21 females, 17 males 5 main topics Job Satisfaction Self Assessment Co-Workers Supervisors Future 7
- 8. + Scope and Limitations Small population size Not representative of the industry Distribution Time 8
- 16. + Removing Barriers Include everyone in the conversation 100% Talent Advertise and recruit 16
- 17. + Resources Ashcraft, Catherine, and Sarah Blithe. Women in IT: The Facts. Rep. N.p.: National Center for Women & Technology, 2009. Print. Hewlett, Sylvia Ann, Laura Sherbin, Fabiola Diudonne, Christina Fargnoli, and Catherine Fredman. Athena Factor 2.0. Rep. N.p.: Center or Talent Innovation, 2014. Print. Leipert, Jiri. Agreement Rating. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2015. Library paper reading silhouette. Digital image. Pixabay. CCO Public Domain, n.d. Web. 23 July 2015. Limitations of Klout Scores and a New Method for Social Media Metrics (KPIs) Based on Lifetime Engagement. Digital image. Open Gardens. MAgazine Theme on Genesis Framework Wordpress, 23 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 July 2015. Melymuka, Kathleen. "Why Women Quit Technology." Computerworld. N.p., 16 June 2016. Web. 24 July 2015. Miller, Claire Cain. "Technology’s Man Problem." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 July 2015. Misa, Thomas J. Gender Codes: Women and Men in the Computing Professions. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print. Sieber, Scarlett. "Including Men in the Conversation About Women." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2 June 2014. Web. 23 July 2015. Simsek, Emir. City Silhouette. Digital image. 123RF. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2015. "This Is What Tech’s Ugly Gender Problem Really Looks Like." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 28 July 2014. Web. 23 July 2015. Williams, Joan C., Katherine W. Phillips, and Erika V. Hall. Double Jeopardy? Rep. N.p.: WorkLife Law, 2014. Print. Ashcraft, Catherine, and Sarah Blithe. Women in IT: The Facts. Rep. N.p.: National Center for Women & Technology, 2009. Print. Hewlett, Sylvia Ann, Laura Sherbin, Fabiola Diudonne, Christina Fargnoli, and Catherine Fredman. Athena Factor 2.0. Rep. N.p.: Center or Talent Innovation, 2014. Print. Leipert, Jiri. Agreement Rating. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2015. Library paper reading silhouette. Digital image. Pixabay. CCO Public Domain, n.d. Web. 23 July 2015. Limitations of Klout Scores and a New Method for Social Media Metrics (KPIs) Based on Lifetime Engagement. Digital image. Open Gardens. MAgazine Theme on Genesis Framework Wordpress, 23 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 July 2015. Melymuka, Kathleen. "Why Women Quit Technology." Computerworld. N.p., 16 June 2016. Web. 24 July 2015. Miller, Claire Cain. "Technology’s Man Problem." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 July 2015. Misa, Thomas J. Gender Codes: Women and Men in the Computing Professions. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print. Sieber, Scarlett. "Including Men in the Conversation About Women." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2 June 2014. Web. 23 July 2015. Simsek, Emir. City Silhouette. Digital image. 123RF. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2015. "This Is What Tech’s Ugly Gender Problem Really Looks Like." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 28 July 2014. Web. 23 July 2015. Williams, Joan C., Katherine W. Phillips, and Erika V. Hall. Double Jeopardy? Rep. N.p.: WorkLife Law, 2014. Print. 17
Editor's Notes
- -The U.S. Labor Department estimated that there will be more than 1.4 million computer related jobs available in 2018. -However, at current graduation rates for computer science degrees, only 39% of these jobs will be filled by U.S. undergrads. -The technology industry is growing exponentially, but the number of people going into it cannot keep up. -In fact, it is reported that 56% of women leave technology industry mid-career. -This creates a huge problem because not only is the tech industry failing to attract people, but it is also failing to retain people, women in particular. 56% is a large number. That’s more than half of women in the industry that will leave, and this contributes to the problem of why so many jobs in tech will be unfilled. -How do we keep this from happening? How do we keep people, women in particlar, from leaving? -First, we need to find out why this is happening. Many argue that women are pushed away from the tech industry because of the culture it holds, a culture that has come to be known as a “brogramming” culture
- What is “brogramming culture? Similar to the old term “Boys Club” that was once used to describe this culture. Only men worked in tech and women were not allowed. However, “Brogramming” is more a specific term and also touches on the behavior. Combining the words bros and programming, the term “brogramming” refers to a brotherly bond amongst programmers, referencing the common stereotype of “bros” in fraternities; they stick together, they have each other’s back and have reputations of isolating, discriminating, and disrespecting women. It is a social interaction that propagates masculinity over femininity. If one does not fit into the brogramming culture, literature says it will be hard for them to find their place, feel valued, and succeed.
- Does the “brogramming” culture exist? If so, how does it affect a female’s experience? Does it create more challenges and obstacles to be overcome? Or do they benefit because they are given special treatment due to their marginalization and the attempt to reduce it.? With whom is it most prevalent? Is there a bigger brogramming culture amongst supervisors or coworkers?
- My approach to answering the research questions was to first analyze current literature. I read about previous studies relating to women in IT to help me set the stage, gain background information, and compile common trends that I saw. I then wanted to gather my own data and created a survey, which was the main focus of my research. There were 24 questions that consisted of some multiple choice and mostly ratings asking how much participants agreed with a statement.
- Women in IT: The Facts reported that 84% of women lack sponsors or someone who will support their accomplishments and goals. With only 9-11% of corporate officer positions being women, the tech industry faces challenges in providing their female employees with females supervisors who have faced the same discrimination as them, who will support the, and who prove that women too can succeed despite the sexism they face. Athena Factor 2.0 identifies antigens that push women to leave the tech field because of the culture that surrounds it. One being isolation, as male peers form buddy networks that extend beyond the walls of the work environment, leaving women without a group of people to belong. The second antigen is the hostile macho cultures that control the work environment, marginalizing women through aggressive masculinity. Double Jeopardy? discusses that not only is the tech culture male-dominated, but it is also white-dominated. Therefore, women of color face a double bias, facing sexism and racism. This study further proves that there is a certain stereotype in tech and those who do not fit it will face more challenges.
- I was able to collect 38 complete responses from people working in IT, 21 identified as female and 17 identified as male. The 5 main topics were Job Satisfaction and Self Assessment, the relationship between workers and their co-workers and supervisors, and the last questioned their future in IT.
- I do want to go over some limitations of my survey before I get into the results. The short amount of time, being one month of data collection and the method of distribution which relied on e-mail and networking led to a small population size. The small number of respondents also allows one response to hold a lot of weight in the data. Because of these limitations, the results should be taken with a grain of salt because this cannot be representative of the entire technology industry, although they do end up supporting current literature for the most part.
- Overall, the data showed that males generally were more satisfied with their jobs than females. However, while they rated high in their satisfaction, male interest in their jobs did not receive as high a rating. Females were more consistent in their responses, having similar ratings for their sense of belonging, value, and interest. It is also interesting to note that, females were more interested, although barely, in their jobs than their male counterparts. This can be used as evidence to support the argument that a “brogramming” culture exists. It shows that although men are not as interested in their jobs, they still can enjoy it and feel valued, possibly due to the environment and people that they are working with, who are mostly male and who encourage masculinity. Males have people who want to work with them and who will support them in their contributions and mistakes. However, women were left depending on their passion for the job. Female satisfaction correlated with how interested they were in their job.
- This data definitely supports current literature and it is so interesting to see the contrast here between males and females. The data shows that women are confident in their skills but feel stuck because they don’t have equal opportunity to succeed because they have to work harder than others. Men, however, are the opposite. They are not as confident in their skills, but they feel that they have equal opportunity and work as hard as others to succeed. This is more evidence that shows a “Brogramming” culture of sexism, affecting females and their inability to gain the rewards they work for and showing that the tech industry does have a preference for men.
- While males felt similarly supported by both their male and female co-workers, females felt significantly more supported by their female co-workers than their male co-workers. Females also did not feel that their ideas and contributions were respected. Males, however, felt that their ideas are often heard out and considered. Whether or not this is intentional, men are not supporting the women, as this data shows a clear gender bias. Women are being alienated by their male counterparts and are ignored and overlooked.
- Although I am very happy with these low numbers regarding how often men and women observe and experience sexual harassment and sexist comments, I was very surprised by these results. Current literature says that more than 2/3 of women observe and experience sexual harassment. However, I was interviewing a female in IT and she believed that she rarely encountered sexist comments, if ever, but later in our conversation, she noted that she was not only referred to as “sweetheart” which can be perceived as patronizing or condescending, but she also was introduced as “the prettier version” of the male worker who previously held her title. Therefore, I wonder if these results were due to the lack of defining what constitutes as sexual harassment or sexist comments because they can be very subtle as that example shows.
- Over all, the relationships with the supervisors were very positive, especially for females. This was surprising because literature states that one of the biggest problems women in IT face is lack of good supervisors and mentors, and this data shows otherwise. Perhaps this is because this specific problem has been highlighted and discussed for so long that companies are finally taking it upon themselves to make a change and provide supervisors with proper training on how to support their employees. The wealth of research suggests that employees leave supervisors, not companies.
- The participants have generally been working in IT related jobs for 0-15 years, and every single one of them, males and females, planned to stay in the field for at least another 5 years.
- However, when asked about retirement, the results varied a lot more. Not one male said he would not be staying in the field until retirement, although 12% stated that they were unsure. Females, on the other hand, only had 33% commit to staying until retirement, 10% knowing they would not, and 57% being unsure. Reasons for this were not asked, but I can speculate, from literature and my other data, that a potential reason is that even though they love their job, they are not sure how long they will be able to handle the “Brogramming” culture and discrimination, especially when thinking in terms of the next 30 or 40 years. Another possible reason is motherhood. Not only does society expect women to become mothers, but society also expects them to stay at home with their children, making it harder for mothers to return to the work field after giving birth, especially in the technology field. Therefore, the high number of “unsures” from women may be because they are unsure of the factors they will face if they do become mothers. Companies are slowly becoming more flexible and accommodating for motherhood and maternity leave, also encouraging men to spend time with their newborns as well.
- It takes everyone, whether male or female, to change a culture of something. Not only do women need to feel empowered, but men also need to be held accountable for their actions. When including everyone, it encourages everyone to do their part and removes any marginalization caused by participation and advocating. Companies can hold required trainings of expected work behavior and programs that support women and other underrepresented groups. Events empowering women can be advertised in a way to encourage male participants. Whether it is for hiring or for promoting, there needs to be a more concrete criteria when evaluating applicants and job performances. This will help remove biases and focus on talent. Lastly, companies should be reaching out and actively pursing diversity. With a reputation of a “brogramming” culture, women are less likely to put themselves in this situation thinking that they are not valued nor supported. Actively pursing diversity will show that companies care about their employees and will stand by those who feel marginalized.