Gender coding and the consequences of campaigns for equality - A study in the wake of #MeToo

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to examine how gender relations are expressed by women within the IT occupation. Moreover, our objective is also to enhance our understanding of the meanings of campaigns for increased equality, by more specifically aiming to comprehend the meaning or meanings of the #MeToo campaign. Methodology: The study is based on a qualitative abductive research approach with a hermeneutic approach. From these approaches, 10 semi-structured interviews and an observation was conducted. Furthermore, utilising and analysed the gathered material in a reflexive manner. Theoretical Perspectives: Our research is based on the theory of occupational gender segregation, gendering in organizations and initiatives for inclusion and justice, in order to get background knowledge and a comprehension of general perceptions of women in gender atypical occupations and applied this as our benchmark. Conclusions: The results indicate that occupations have certain identities and gender coded work ideals. Furthermore, i the existence of a sub segregation within IT, where the masculine identity is more apparent in the roles of developers and programmers having features of nerdiness and hegemonic masculinity. In addition, we have come across that women perceive greater pressure to perform, being responsible “for the whole world's female population” (as one respondent expressed) as and also different adaptation strategies among the women to cope with the tough environment in IT. We found that the #MeToo campaign within IT has spread and made impact on a considerably lower level, than we initially expected. Moreover, our study has found that organizations has not acted upon the #MeToo campaign to the extent it is described within social media and general press. More precisely, the leaders of said organizations has not brought the forthcoming campaign to light whatsoever.