Investigating the Nature of Change in Factors Affecting Gender Equity in the IT Sector: A Longitudinal Study of Women in Ireland

2021 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 23

Authors: Trauth, Eileen; Connolly, Regina

Abstract: How and why do societal, organizational and individual factors affecting gender ... Expand

Abstract: How and why do societal, organizational and individual factors affecting gender equity in the IT field change over time? To answer this question a longitudinal investigation of the nature of change in factors affecting the position of women in the IT profession was undertaken. It was conducted in Ireland against the backdrop of fluctuations in the nation’s socio-economic status. The individual differences theory of gender and IT was used to analyze life history interviews conducted at four points in time with a total of 63 women whose stories cover the decades from the 1970s to the 2010s. What resulted is a dynamic extension of this theory through the addition of seven themes that characterize the nature of change in factors affecting women IT professionals. The effect on women of economic changes in Ireland is shown to occur through changes in other factors: environmental (i.e., policy, infrastructural, and cultural), identity (e.g., motherhood) and individual (e.g., family). The results reveal both gradual and dramatic changes in an evolving picture of women in this sector, against the back drop of the peaks and valleys of Ireland’s economy. Both transformational and enduring images emerge from this look at Ireland over five decades. Collapse

Topics: IT workforce IT career telephone pseudonymity online learning system

Methods: qualitative interview longitudinal research qualitative coding biographical interview longitudinal survey

Theories: individual differences theory of gender information systems theory theory of economic development

Editorial Note: The IS History Initiative: Continued Efforts and Results

2016 | Communications of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Zhang, Ping

Abstract: To build on the first CAIS special issue on IS history, this second special issu ... Expand

Abstract: To build on the first CAIS special issue on IS history, this second special issue reports additional efforts and results on several aspects of the implementation of the strategic plan of the IS history initiative. Since the publication of the first special issue, I conducted several oral history interviews to collect the memories from pioneers in the IS field, including Gordon Davis, Gordon Everest, David Naumann, Jan DeGross, and Alan Merten. In this special issue, several papers cover a variety of issues about IS history, such as the rise of IS at the graduate school of management in UCLA, the IS field’s intellectual and institutional structure, theory in North American IS research, historical roots and approaches to user satisfaction research, revolutionary approach to enterprise system design using resources-eventsagents design theory, the evolution of human resource information systems research, green IS research, software piracy research, the role of doctoral consortium at major IS conferences, and a recollection of LEO in East Europe during 1963-1974. Collapse

Methods: qualitative interview biographical interview

APPLYING ATTRIBUTION THEORY TO IS RESEARCH AS A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR ASSESSING POST-ADOPTION BEHAVIOUR

2014 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Alony, Irit; Hasan, Helen; Paris, Cecile

Abstract: Researchers and practitioners alike see great value in understanding the impleme ... Expand

Abstract: Researchers and practitioners alike see great value in understanding the implementation, adoption, and use of technology, and acknowledge the need to better understand post-adoption behaviour. Among theories that explain and predict human behaviour, attribution theory is recognised for its extensive investigation of behaviour’s antecedents and consequences. This paper provides an overview of the theory, suggests a practical method for using it in IS contexts, and shows evidence that this method provides meaningful results. In order to address the complexities encountered in field-work, this paper argues that system-usage can be treated as an interpersonal relationship between the user and the system. This perspective allows us to draw on extensive knowledge gained in the field of interpersonal relationships research, in particular a relationship diagnostics method that uses interview data, followed by an analysis of the attributions mentioned in the interviews. The paper provides evidence from a study that successfully used attribution theory in this way to investigate a non-interpersonal relationship – an employee-organisation relationship. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research in IS based on this method. Collapse

Topics: information system use job satisfaction technology adoption IT personell turnover

Methods: qualitative interview survey biographical interview survey design descriptive statistic

Theories: attribution theory actor network theory

The Sociomateriality of Information Systems: Current Status, Future Directions

2014 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Cecez-Kecmanovic, Dubravka; Galliers, Robert D.; Henfridsson, Ola; Newell, Sue; Vidgen, Richard

Abstract: An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports withi ... Expand

Abstract: An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the notion of entanglement of materiality and meaning in ranking and evaluating the hospitality industry, the study of sociomateriality in information systems, and sociomateriality in the context of critical care. Collapse

Topics: anonymity social media knowledge representation big data crowdsourcing

Methods: qualitative interview theory development ethnography literature sample literature study

Theories: sociomaterialism theory social practice theory socio technical theory

Dynamic Reconfiguration in Planetary Exploration: A Sociomaterial Ethnography

2014 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 26

Authors: Mazmanian, Melissa; Cohn, Marisa; Dourish, Paul

Abstract: In taking into account the ways in which material and social realms are constitu ... Expand

Abstract: In taking into account the ways in which material and social realms are constitutively entangled within organizations, it is rhetorically tempting to say that technologies and social structures reconfigure each other. But what does it mean to reconfigure? How does one “figure” the other and how do we fully embrace a mutually constitutive relationship when examining fluid relations? This paper delves into these questions by exploring how physical, social, material, technological, and organizational arrangements dynamically reconfigure each other in the duration of organizational practice. Using the venue of space exploration, we present three empirical examples from an ethnographic engagement with a NASA mission orbiting an outer planet in the solar system to examine various configurations and sociomaterial relations. In this endeavor, we suggest that theoretical and empirical traction can be gained by focusing attention on the dynamic reconfigurations between social and material realms. In so doing, we call attention to the ways in which current sociomaterial perspectives have difficulty articulating the shifting, figural, asymmetric and dynamic negotiations between people, social structures, information technologies, and representational objects. This paper contributes to current discussions of sociomaterial relations in information systems research by presenting an empirical treatment of entangled and shifting reconfigurations and providing language for engaging with this perspective. Collapse

Topics: business process management computer system social norm brainstorming robotic

Methods: field study biographical interview personal interview case study qualitative interview

Theories: sociomaterialism theory

Flexibility Relative to What? Change to Research Infrastructure

2014 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 20

Authors: Ribes, David; Polk, Jessica Beth

Abstract: It is often said that, in the face of an ever-changing world, infrastructure mus ... Expand

Abstract: It is often said that, in the face of an ever-changing world, infrastructure must remain flexible. Yet, what is meant by change remains glib and, consequently, so too do our studies on flexibility. In this paper, we develop three sensitizing concepts to investigate change to research infrastructure: 1) technoscientific: changes in research objects, scientific methods, and instruments; 2) sociotechnical: changes in social organization, coordination and, collaboration tools; and data sharing techniques; and 3) institutional: changes in funding and regulatory regimes. The majority of studies of "information infrastructure" have focused on the sociotechnical facet, and so we offer the two additional facets of change to help sensitize researchers to empirical instances of these encountered in the field, and to broaden the research agenda. To elaborate these concepts, we focus on a long-term research infrastructure that has been investigating HIV disease for nearly thirty years: The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). Over time, the MACS has faced tremendous changes in its science, collaboration and communication tools, its data and specimen repositories, its institutional environment, and the disease itself. Before we can begin to characterize flexibility, we must understand the nature of change research infrastructures face. We conclude by outlining a research agenda that will match forms of flexibility to the heterogeneity of changes an infrastructure may encounter. Collapse

Topics: information technology infrastructure data management data center accounting systems design

Methods: qualitative interview survey longitudinal research case study focus group

Theories: actor network theory

How do Gender Minorities Navigate the IS Workplace? Voices of Lesbian and Bisexual Women

2013 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 8

Authors: Trauth, Eileen M; Booth, Kayla M

Abstract: In recent years, research on human capital in the information systems (IS) field ... Expand

Abstract: In recent years, research on human capital in the information systems (IS) field that focuses on the gender imbalance has begun to move beyond group level analyses that tend to focus on all women as a single category. Attention has turned to within-gender variation by investigating the intersectionality of identity characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic class in explaining factors that both facilitate and inhibit participation in the IS field. One under researched aspect of gender intersectionality is the experiences of lesbian and bisexual women: non-normative gender minorities in the IS field. The voices of nine women in the USA who were willing to discuss their identities as gender minorities are used to examine within-gender variation in women’s exposure to, experience of and response to gender norms about the IS field. Collapse

Topics: IT workforce IT career legal context

Methods: qualitative interview field study survey biographical interview

Theories: individual differences theory of gender

Another road to IT turnover: the entrepreneurial path

2009 | European Journal of Information Systems | Citations: 26

Authors: Mourmant, Gaëtan; Gallivan (Mike), Michael J.; Kalika, Michel

Abstract: This paper addresses an untapped, though important, type of information technolo ... Expand

Abstract: This paper addresses an untapped, though important, type of information technology (IT) personnel turnover: IT entrepreneurship. We develop a comprehensive model to understand the factors and processes that influence turnover behaviour for prospective (nascent) IT entrepreneurs. To do this, we review three streams of research: first, the unfolding model of voluntary turnover that specifies six stages in a process model of employee turnover; second, the entrepreneurship literature (focusing on differences between nascent entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs), and third, attributes of the IT personnel and IT industry. We use Image Theory as the ‘glue’ to merge these streams of research together. We do so by proposing two new constructs – readiness to quit (to start a business) (RTQ) and necessary configuration to quit (NCQ), which we incorporate into a conceptual framework describing how specific dimensions of RTQ change over time, either gradually or suddenly, in response to specific events. Based on Image Theory, we describe the process by which nascent entrepreneurs conduct a compatibility test to assess the fit between their current RTQ and the set of NCQs. If there is a fit, then the nascent entrepreneur is ready to quit his or her current job. We illustrate our model using a sample vignette involving a former IT employee who became an entrepreneur, and we provide suggestions for researchers and practitioners, based on our model and the constructs that we introduce. Although we develop our model in the context of IT turnover and entrepreneurship, RTQ and NCQ, as well as the conceptual framework, can also be applied to other types of voluntary IT turnover (e.g., accepting a position in another company). Collapse

Topics: entrepreneurship IT workforce IT supported collaboration remote work IT personell turnover

Methods: case study conceptual modelling theory development survey longitudinal research

Theories: organizational behavior theory

Retaining women in the U.S. IT workforce: theorizing the influence of organizational factors

2009 | European Journal of Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Trauth, Eileen M.; Quesenberry, Jeria L.; Huang, Haiyan

Abstract: The challenge of meeting the demand for information technology (IT) workers is a ... Expand

Abstract: The challenge of meeting the demand for information technology (IT) workers is addressed by examining three important organizational factors that affect women's retention in the IT field. Much of the research on gender and IT assumes a unilateral effect: all organizational factors affect all women in the same ways. An alternative view that is explored in this research is that within-gender differences offer rich insights into the gender imbalance in the IT profession. The individual differences theory of gender and IT enabled us to examine variation in organizational influences on women through analysis of transcripts from in-depth interviews conducted with 92 women in the IT workforce in the U.S.A. The results show that three organizational factors – work–life balance, organizational climate, and mentoring – affected the women's career development in a range of ways. Our findings shed new light on what has been interpreted by other researchers as contradictory findings because our theoretical starting point is the assumption that women are not all the same, that within-gender variation is expected and that it provides an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of gender relations in the IT field. Using this theory we were able to identify opportunities for the development of interventions by linking the themes embedded in the three workplace factors to the constructs of the theory. The individual identity construct revealed the ways in which a woman's demographic and professional characteristics affect her career choices. The individual influences construct focused attention on the ways in which differences in personality, abilities, and influential people shape one's career. Finally, the environmental influences construct characterized contextual influences on women's participation in the IT profession. Our findings show that both research and interventions directed at increasing the retention of women must be flexible enough to respond to the variation that exists among women and within IT workplaces. Collapse

Topics: IT workforce IT career organizational culture database system top management support

Methods: qualitative interview qualitative coding theory development personal interview participant observation

Theories: individual differences theory of gender