Barriers and challenges facing women in the academic and organizational environment of the information technology industry

Abstract

Purpose: To identify and analyze the main barriers and challenges faced by women working in different IT areas in a region outside the major urban centers. Method: narrative research with interviews focused on the experience of six women during their academic and work experience in IT. Results: some challenges limit and discourage since childhood, persist during academic life and intensify in the work environment in the form of myths and prejudices about the intellectual capacity, interest, work capacity and leadership of women in IT environment. The main barriers are still salary differences, discredit, segregation, forms of harassment and fewer opportunities for career advancement. Some facilitators were evidenced of different natures and scope offering a fragmented and fragile support network, highlighting the women's own performance and sense of self-efficacy as a form of reaction and resistance. Academic contributions: Highlight the need to analyze different contexts, such as growing sectors in regions outside large urban centers and how this contributes to the challenges, barriers and facilitators of women's performance. Practical contributions: For educational practice, changes are suggested in the preparation and monitoring of professors and students to create a safer and more favorable environment for the development of women in the areas of technology, and in the professional environment it is necessary to work to deconstruct elements of toxic masculinity and provide organizational support for women's actions and decisions internally and in customer relations.