The role of theory in gender and information systems research

How Can Universities Best Encourage Women to Major in Information Systems?

“…Rather than focusing on the differences between the genders as many prior studies have done, individual differences theory encourages researchers to use "the individual" as the unit of measure and to incorporate all genders in gender studies (Trauth, 2002(Trauth, , 2013Trauth et al, 2009). Our experiment viewed the genders as dichotomous, but we suggest that it may not be appropriate to presume the existence of only two genders.…”

“…Prior studies suggest that gender parity contributes to: 1) more effective and productive teams (Bear & Woolley, 2011), 2) increased business profits (Badal & Harter, 2014;Herring, 2009;Hoogendoorn, Oosterbeek, & Van Praag, 2013;Richard, Kirby, & Chadwick, 2013;Romney, 2015;Woetzel et al, 2015), 3) better-quality work (Campbell, Mehtani, Dozier, & Rinehart, 2013), 4) potentially more innovative and expansive product development (Krivkovich, Kutcher, & Yee, 2016;Olbrich, Trauth, Niedermann, & Gregor, 2015), and 5) improved equity in salary between genders in the workforce (Bear & Woolley, 2011; 1 Prior research uses the terms "information systems" (IS) or "information technology" (IT) to encompass those academic and professional disciplines focused on helping people make more effective use of computer technology for individual and organizational activities. We use IS in this paper to align with prior research that would categorize this study as related to IS workforce (ISWF) (Trauth, 2013 Dezsö & Ross, 2012;Krivkovich et al, 2016). Put simply, studies suggest that gender diversity leads to improved performance-especially when businesses focus on innovative outcomes (Bear & Woolley, 2011;Dezsö & Ross, 2012).…”

ICTs and the Computerised Hijab: Women's Experiences of ICT in the UAE

“…Unless this gender divide is specifically addressed, there is a risk that ICT may exacerbate existing inequalities between women and men and create new forms of inequality (Sandys, 2005;Trauth, 2013). This phenomenon embracing the disparities in access and use of ICTs by women and men has also been named the "gender digital divide".…”

“…We found individual difference theory (Trauth, 2013) very helpful in explaining the different perspectives of the interviewees, while Structuration theory (Jones & Karsten, 2008) illuminated how ICT use is shaped by society, and is constrained in some instances. The individual differences theory is comprised of three general constructs that, together, explain women's decisions to enter and remain in the IT field .The personal identity construct includes both personal demographic items and professional items.…”

An Exploration of Anchoring Female Millennial Students to an IS/IT Career Path: The CLASS Model

“…The under-representation of women in the IT field is an established phenomena [8,15]. There have been numerous research efforts in the area [15][16][17], however, there remains a need to understand the factors of societal structures that may inhibit recruitment and retention of women [18].…”