| Abstract [eng] |
Women occupy less than a third higher management positions in business globally. The women’s workforce participation in Information Communication Technology business is less than 30% worldwide, therefore, the lack of women as leaders is even more evident. The ICT business gains momentum rapidly in dealing with innovation and shaping the future life and work, hence gender balance in key decision-making positions cannot be overlooked. This underrepresentation in management and corporate boards is one of the indicators of global gender inequality, therefore is included in global gender equality goals. Even though, the gender equality has made significant progress, recent years show slight stagnation of this process, therefore, remaining barriers and women’s empowerment practises for careers in ICT is still a relevant topic for discussion. The aim of this thesis is to propose solutions for empowering women for career in ICT by overcoming the key barriers. The subject matter of the thesis - the barriers for women’s career advancement in ICT business. To achieve the aim of this project, the following objectives were defined: 1. To perform a situation analysis regarding the underrepresentation of women in higher managerial positions in ICT business. 2. To theoretically substantiate the existing barriers for women’s career. 3. To substantiate research methodology for managerial actions to overcome key barriers for women career in ICT business. 4. To propose managerial solutions and recommendations for overcoming key barriers, based on the empirical research findings. The current situation of women’s underrepresentation in senior management was discussed, and theoretical solutions analysis was carried out. Scientific literature analysis allowed to recognise the potential barriers for women’s career success and find possible practises for women’s empowerment. Then the methodology for the empirical research was substantiated and empirical research was performed. Qualitative approach of empirical research was used to understand the experiences of women leaders in ICT business. 13 women in managing positions participated in semi-structured interviews, which allowed to find out what barriers have women experienced and how they were empowered for career success. The qualitative content analysis enabled by MaxQDA program, provided research results of barriers and practises’ coexistence. The research results show that women are still dealing with barriers in their careers. The barriers are mostly informal and behavioural such as stereotypes, gendered professions, unconscious gender bias and male domination. These outside barriers lead to internal barriers of lack of self-confidence and belongingness, as well as perceived glass ceiling. The lack of self-confidence can be overcome by individual practises of self-affirmation, self-awareness, and continuous self-education. However, the effect of perceived glass ceiling can only be met by creating empowering environment of positive role models, initiatives to create a more inclusive society and inclusive company culture. Thus, the empowerment of women for ICT careers was found to take place on three levels: individual, organizational, and societal. |
