UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS EXPERIENCED BY WOMEN IN TÜRKİYE'S IT SECTOR

Date

2024-4-04

Author

Gürakın, Zeynep

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Ongoing gender inequalities the in the Information Technology (IT) industry emphasize the need for aimed interventions to promote gender equality in the world. Despite advancements in technology and societal attitudes, systemic barriers hinder women’s participation and advancement in IT careers. This thesis investigates the challenges and barriers women face in Türkiye’s IT sector and explores how demographic factors influence these challenges. Through a comprehensive analysis of IT workers’ perspectives, this study aims to uncover key challenges and provide recommendations for organizations to enhance employee wellbeing and overcome barriers faced by female IT workers. The research questions explore the specific challenges encountered by women, variations in perspectives of participants based on demographic factors, and recommendations for organizational policies and practices via a survey study. The survey was first applied to 25 people in a pilot study. After the necessary revisions were made, the main study was conducted by collecting data from 238 IT professionals working in different companies in the industry. The findings show that male colleagues do not exhibit direct discrimination to females in work-life. Still, there is doubt about women’s advancement into managerial roles and personal obstacles stop women from entering the IT sector. Additionally, the study highlights the struggle to maintain work-life balance and the importance of accessibility to technology in supporting gender diversity. Recommendations to address these challenges include implementing applications such as menstrual leave, special leave for parents, and flexible work arrangements for women. Furthermore, proactive measures such as revisiting hiring and salary policies and organizing campaigns to increase female participation in IT are proposed. Türkiye’s IT industry can foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment for women by addressing these challenges and implementing targeted interventions.

Subject Keywords

Information Technology, Gender Inequality, Women’s Challenges in IT, Workplace Barriers, Self-Efficacy, Women in Technology

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/109437

Collections

Graduate School of Informatics, Thesis