The Career Development of Women Executives in InformationTechnology

摘要

This paper will report the results of a study on the career development and aspirations of womenin executive level positions in information technology. The major method of this research studywas the individual case study. Case studies relied on in-depth telephone interviews with asample of 25 women in executive level positions in IT in 25 Fortune 500 companies. The studyprovided an insight into the perception of women executives working in information technology(IT), and their role in this fast-growing technological area. The study examined the educationaland career paths that the women took to reach their executive level positions. This studyprovided a better understanding of why women entered the field of information technology andwhat their experiences have been. The study examined the barriers that hindered and the factorsthat assisted the women in achieving executive level positions. In addition, it looked into thecareer goals and aspirations of the women executives. Furthermore, this study obtained an indepthunderstanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by the women in their educationalprograms and as they moved up the career ladder to executive level positions.