Gender and the Attraction for IT in Career Paths: A French Study

Different feminist theories have endeavored to explain the relationship between masculinity and technology. However, most of these theories focus on women’s under representation, and little attention has been paid to women who are attracted by technology. This communication describes an exploratory study carried out in an IT company located in France. We based our research on Hennion’s theory of taste as a practice, and we conducted nine semi-structured interviews with male and female IT professionals (IT architects, managers and consultants). Textual analysis and structural analysis have provided the following results: Most interviewees share an attraction for IT because of the ever-changing nature of IT and the diversity of their jobs. However, some differences were clearly expressed; male interviewees assume a hedonic posture, whereas women emphasized the empowerment they feel through mastering technology. Social recognition in the workplace appears to play a major role for women in pursuing a technical career