Experience of Gender Among Professionals in Finnish IT Companies

Abstract

Issues of equality and fair treatment in the workforce have held a position in professional discourse across fields for decades. Gender equality is particularly relevant in fields such as information technology (IT), where developed products and systems affect all segments of society. The current paper presents a study that probed professional experiences in the field of IT, in Finland, from the perspective of gender. The study was implemented as a questionnaire where N = 93 individuals participated. Our results show that women paid close attention to how their gender influenced multiple aspects of their professional lives, reporting both negative and positive impacts on several categories. Men generally perceived their gender as irrelevant in most of the categories except salary. Women also highlighted experiences of sexual harassment and biased behavior. These statistically significant results contribute to advancing knowledge on gendered conditions of professionals and how they influence the IT industry.