Gender equality and IT: Does management involvement matter?

Abstract: This research looks into the gender equality work of two IT companies in Sweden, examines what actions the companies pursue in their gender equality work, the level of management involvement and how that affects the outcome. In the IT industry, organizations are failing with retaining their female employees (Correll & Mackenzie, 2016). Further, stereotypes result in, e.g. the IT industry is seen as only suited for males, and females working in or aim to work in the IT industry feel less belonging to that field (Beyer, 2014). This qualitative research is performed as a case study, and was conducted through semi-structured interviews with two companies within the IT industry. The study showed that the employees at the two case companies are aware of how females are affected by implicit bias and stereotypes in the IT industry, but only one of the companies are working with this issue. Further, there was a discrepancy regarding what extent the companies work with gender equality. In the company that works with gender equality to a larger extent, with more goals, strategies and actions in place, the managers are more involved. The study provides recommendations for managers to improve their gender equality work. For instance, work with recognizing implicit bias and stereotypes through workshops, structure quantifiable gender equality goals and monitor change, and the importance of management involvement in order to succeed.