Abstract:Much is written about the glass ceiling encountered by female IT professionals and associated strategies to remove such barriers. But what is the worth of such efforts when many women don't find IT appealing? This study uses an exploratory research design to discover why young women don't choose careers in IT. The young women in this study were aware of the benefits of a career in IT. However, the perception that a career in IT involves little communication and social skill steers young women away from a professional IT career.
CAREERS IN ITCareer prospects in IT are promising. An estimated 30,000 IT jobs sit vacant in Australia alone [5]. IT professionals are blessed with great jobs, great salaries and the opportunity to travel the globe. Despite the vast opportunities and favourable conditions, IT careers still appear to lack appeal for many.Women, in particular are said to be suited to a career in IT. The essential qualities of a good IT professional are relationship management and communication skills [5]. Many more women than men are regarded as being good listeners, good communicators and interested in relationships [16]. Yet there are many less women than men employed as IT professionals. In Australia it is estimated that the female to male ratio in IT careers is 1: 9 .It appears that there are many opportunities in IT for women. The aim of this research was to investigate the reasons why women didn't undertake a
This paper explores the customer perspective of World Wide Web (WWW) site design in the light of current WWW usability research. A usability study undertaken by Spool et al. (1999) is replicated where testers search for specific information on a WWW site and answer a usability questionnaire. The search was carried out on New Zealand winery WWW sites. The results are compared to the findings of Spool in the areas of navigation, graphics and page layout. All three areas are found to be significant influences on WWW usability. Additional recommendations concerning guidelines for usability are made.
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