An Indian-origin researcher's 12-year-old model may help reverse the exodus of women from information technology (IT) profession by creating a more diversified work environment, scientists say.
Studies show women are significantly underrepresented in the IT field, and the number of women who've graduated with degrees in computer and information science have plummeted from 37 per cent in 1985 to 18 per cent in 2011.
The failure to "stop the bleeding" stems, in part, from the industry's reliance on an oft-cited, outdated and under-studied research model, said Cindy Riemenschneider, from Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business.
"We have to look deeper into the areas that really need to be addressed," Riemenschneider said, explaining that employers and experts have been focusing on the wrong challenges facing women in the IT profession.
For example, there have been numerous studies and efforts focused on work-family conflict and organisational structures.
But a new study shows that those areas are less significant than challenges found in occupational culture and informal inter-office social networks.
These areas emerged as more integral in a recent study by Riemenschneider and colleague Deborah Armstrong, associate professor in Florida State University's entrepreneurship, strategy and information systems department.
They started with a 12-year-old model developed by researcher Manju Ahuja, which, they contend, included popular assumptions that had not been thoroughly tested.
Riemenschneider and Armstrong tested those findings by surveying IT professionals from a Fortune 500 company over a period of three years.
Using the results of their research, they were able to build upon Ahuja's model and propose a new model they hope will "re-energise the dialogue regarding creating a more diversified IT work environment," according to the study.
Riemenschneider said women who advance within a company often find few female mentors. She suggested allowing women to utilise peer networking and mentoring via professional organisations.
"The further women move up, the fewer female mentors they have. Women might be mentored by a male, and the lens he looks through might not be the same one she looks through," Riemenschneider said.
"Employers need to be proactive to help employees at whatever stage, to keep them within the company, so they can move up the corporate ladder," she said.
