A Field-Based View on Gender in the Information Systems Discipline: Preliminary Evidence and an Agenda for Change

Gender disparities are an often-cited concern of the information technology (IT) workforce in general, and technology-focused fields, such as information systems, in particular. These worries have been underscored by evidence from practice, which indicates low rates of participation by women in the IT workforce, and have been exacerbated by suggestions that women lack an aptitude for technical work. Motivated by events in practice, and recent events in our own discipline, this editorial considers how gender shapes the careers of women and men in the information systems academe in relation to their employing institutions and to the Association for Information Systems (AIS). Based on a survey of 279 AIS members, we offer insights into whether women and men feel equitably treated in terms of support, job satisfaction, opportunities for career advancement, quality of mentoring, and sexual harassment in their AIS interactions and at their employing universities. We find that women and men report different experiences in the workplace, in relation to the professional association, and in regard to their opportunities for career advancement. Given these differences, we offer an agenda for change within the AIS and a call to action aiming for gender equity within the information systems community