Gendered Processes and Women’s Stunted Career Growth: An Exploratory Study of Female Software Engineers

Authors

Sucharita Maji, Indian Institute of Technology KanpurFollow
Shikha Dixit, Indian Institute of Technology KanpurFollow

Abstract

In the present qualitative study, we explored to what extent gender has been an integral part of workplace experience and career growth among female software engineers in Indian Information and Technology sector. Following a purposive sampling strategy, data were drawn from twenty-one female software engineers. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted. A hybrid of theoretical and inductive thematic analysis was done to answer the research questions. For analyzing the data through theoretical thematic analysis, Acker's (1990) “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations” was used as the theoretical lens. The result revealed that four features of gendered processes in the organization, that is, the gendered division of labour, gendered symbols and images, gendered interactions, and gendered effects on individual identity are experienced by female technology professionals. The impacts of these gendered processes in the career-growth and job-experience has been discussed. Moreover, gender-based stereotype, discrimination, the gendered division of labour inside the family, and self-silencing inside organization are found to be the gender-related aspects which function as inhibitors of women's growth in career.

Keywords

Division of Labour, Gendering, Gender-Discrimination, Thematic Analysis, Technology

Author Bio(s)

Sucharita Maji has been pursuing her doctoral degree in psychology from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. Her area of interest broadly lies in the area of gender and psychology. She works on topics related to “Gender Stereotyping in STEM,” “Gender in Organization,” and “Gender in Social Psychiatry.” Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: smaji@iitk.ac.in.

Dr. Shikha Dixit is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. She has been in the profession since the last 24 years and has contributed significantly. She has published widely and has contributed to the discipline through research, teaching, PhD supervision and academic administration. Her areas of research include social cognition, health psychology, social representations, and illness narratives.

Publication Date

8-20-2020

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4482

Recommended APA Citation

Maji, S., & Dixit, S. (2020). Gendered Processes and Women’s Stunted Career Growth: An Exploratory Study of Female Software Engineers. The Qualitative Report, 25(8), 3067-3084. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4482