Why girls with an interest in IT in high-school do not choose an IT career

摘要

The study attempts to investigate the reason of why girls with an interest in IT in high-school do not choose career in IT. Here we present qualitative results from the focus group interview. The focus group consisted of eight young women, who were actively involved in extra curriculum education in IT area during their final years at school, but have chosen different profession after. As a result of the interview we have identified the following factors influencing respondents' decision for not choosing career in IT: self-perceived lack of aptitude to succeed in IT, unwillingness to deal with numbers, self-perceived insufficient knowledge for admission for IT degree, parental influence, stereotypes of IT profession, unattractive image of IT specialist, uninteresting subjects of the IT program. Finally we have suggested actions in order to make IT profession more attractive for young women.