bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internet Pharmacies
Authors: Rosson Philip
Published: May 2011

The advent of Internet technology has affected the pharmaceutical industry in at least two ways. First, existing companies have implemented Internet solutions for efficiency and performance reasons. These solutions may convey benefits across the entire manufacturer—wholesaler—pharmacy supply chain (e.g., inventory tracking and management), or focus at one level (e.g., providing customer information from a pharmacy Web site). Second, new businesses have been established to capitalize on the opportunities made possible by Internet technology. The new businesses may be related to others, as in the case where storefront pharmacies have established online companies to expand their market scope. Two other new business types represent more radical change and are controversial. The first uses the Internet to deliver information about specific drugs through spam (unsolicited commercial or bulk e-mail). Relatively little is known about such pharmacies, although they account for a large and growing proportion of all spam (PRWeb, 2004). They often promote dubious products and cures, may not require a prescription, and actual delivery is not assured (Barrett, 2001). Some customers buy from such pharmacies in spite of these problems. Because there is a dearth of research on pharmacies using spam, and given that their ethics and standards are at best highly questionable, they are not considered here. A second type of pharmacy has gained prominence since 1999. The Internet pharmacies in question are start-ups that operate wholly online and have no connection to existing pharmacies. For the most part, these Internet pharmacies export prescription drugs from a lower cost country to one or more where higher costs prevail. In North America, many Internet pharmacies have sprung up in western Canada to supply drugs to U.S. consumers. International trade in prescription drugs is also seen elsewhere, again motivated by different price levels.1 The North America experience is discussed next. Canadian Internet pharmacies have achieved success since 1999, but face an uncertain future. Their emergence is traced below and the major points of controversy identified. The analysis reveals that the application of Internet technology in these pharmacies was quite straightforward. More problematic is the complex, political environment in which Internet pharmacies operate, and the fact that the strategy adopted challenges established legal and ethical standards. These issues are addressed in the final sections where the future of Internet pharmacies is examined.
Lessons from Dot-Com Boom and Bust
Authors: Hwang Ha Sung , Stewart Concetta
Published: May 2011

The dot-com industry began in the early 1990s as a collection of startup companies using the Internet as their primary means to conduct business. These companies typically used the “.com” suffix in their company names, such as Amazon.com, and proliferated in the late 90’s with the massive investments in Internet-related stocks and enterprises. But with the failure and consolidation of many of these companies their numbers have since dwindled. The catastrophic collapse of the dot-coms that shook the U.S. economy started in May 2000. More than 210 dot-com companies failed in 2000 (Hirakubo & Friedman, 2002) and a total of 762 dot-coms closed for the period January 2000 to December 2001 (Pather, Erwin, & Remenyi, 2003). Since many of these dot-coms began to lay off their staff, the unemployment rate also increased from 3.9% to 6% by 2002 (Callahan & Garrison, 2003; Howard, 2001). The dot-com bubble burst because the boom was based on the false premise that new technology would eliminate the need for brick-and-mortar stores as this new business model would supplant the old one, thereby converting the “Old Economy,” which is based on the production of physical goods into a “New Economy,” which is based on heavy use of information and communication technology (Rauch, 2001). Although a great deal can be learned from examining the dot-com successes, it is equally important to study reasons for the failures. Examining the mistakes made by the dot-coms can provide insight into the evolution of e-commerce as a means of conducting business and furthermore help to form the basis on which new strategies can be developed for the future e-commerce environment.
Mobile Agent-Based Auction Services
Authors: Guan Sheng-Uei
Published: May 2011

Electronic Commerce: A Booming Industry There is now a gradual shift of many of the traditional business models from the real world to the Internet platform; of these models, auction service is most successful. The existence and development of numerous auction Web sites, such as eBay and OnSale Inc., have demonstrated the survivability of electronic auctions in online transactions. However, current Web-based systems suffer from shortcomings in the following aspects: • Fairness and Friendliness: Due to the different conditions of Internet connections, users across different regions may suffer from the inadequacy of limited bandwidth, especially when participating bidders are distributed across the world. This global nature also makes online auctions difficult to adapt to the potential users across the world. • Security and Privacy: Security concern is one of the important issues users consider when using electronic transactions. Many users also wish to be guaranteed of privacy when doing business. • Intelligence and Flexibility: The vast majority of electronic auction customers are not Internet experts but ordinary people that do not know much about the technical details. Current Web-based auction systems require too much user intervention. It would be commercially profitable if intelligent assistance is provided.
Virtual Enterprise Organization
Authors: Pires Luís Carlos M. , Carvalho José Dinis A. , Moreira Nuno A.
Published: May 2011

Competition among enterprises is changing. Initially competition was made between individual production systems. Now we are assisting to development of another kind of competition between production systems organized according to virtual enterprise (VE) concepts. This new focus is motivated by several aspects. The new global markets and the evolution of technologies and communications accomplished by the unpredictable consumer’s attitude may be pointed out as the most relevant. Understanding social, economical, and technological changes, and taking advantage of them, is the path that will allow production systems to sustain their competitiveness. In this path, enterprises must make radical modifications, both inside their boundaries and also in their relations with partners and competitors. Coordination of participants in new forms of organization, such as virtual enterprises, global manufacturing, and logistics networks, and other company-to-company alliances, has become functionally and strategically important (Gunasekaran, Williams, McGaughey, 2005). The definition of each participant function in the organization and overall information exchange have become key components in their manufacturing strategies.
Who's Here?
Authors: Andriole Stephen J.
Published: May 2011

All conversations have participants. In this case, they include all of the decision makers that directly or indirectly influence the nature and direction of the business technology relationship. It’s important to understand who they are, what they believe, how they prioritize projects and the politics implicit in their roles.
Information Dynamics in Developing Countries
Authors: Rahman Hakikur
Published: May 2011

Revolutionary advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) with strengthening of economic and social aspects is transforming the global communities. A new kind of dynamism—the information dynamics—is emerging where communities are not restricted within boundaries and becoming competent with information, knowledge, networking, and versatility on a global basis. A new society is emerging with pervasive information capabilities, creativity other than the conventional learning system, substantially different from an industrial society; more competitive, better able to address individual needs, and steady to the ever-changing environment. The information revolution creates both the challenge and the means for the developing world to adjust to the newly developed strategic issues and action plans of the New World by accommodating the needful infrastructure of telecommunications and information systems. The information revolution has also opened up opportunities to tackle the problems of poverty, inequality, illiteracy, and environmental degradation.
Assimilation
Authors: LeClair Craig
Published: May 2011

As discussed in Chapter I, successful enterprise software will assimilate rather than disrupt in their market niches. Assimilation is gradual change to something different. The noun “assimilate” means conversion, reduction, transmutation, evolution, sea change, transit, transition; transmigration, and shifting. As a verb it means to be converted into, evolve into, slide into, glide into, ripen into, merge into, emerge as, assume the shape of, begin a new phase, assume a new phase, and undergo a change.
Wireless Markup Language (WML)
Authors: Chen Lei-da , Skelton Gordon W.
Published: May 2011

Associated with the Wireless Application Protocol is a markup language, similar in concept to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) used to develop Web pages. This language, Wireless Markup Language (WML), produces an XML document. In order to develop WML documents which can be used successfully for user input-output it is necessary that you understand both structure and syntax. This chapter provides a thorough foundation in WML. That foundation supports work in following chapters.
WMLScript
Authors: Chen Lei-da , Skelton Gordon W.
Published: May 2011

WMLScripts improve the use of WML documents through their ability to support decision-making, arithmetic operations, iteration, and parameter passing. Furthermore, since they are executed on the server, they aid in memory management. Without any additional language support, one can still write reasonably complex wireless mobile Internet applications by using WML documents and WMLScript functions. However, to reduce the amount of work required to create useful applications, a set of standard libraries has been developed that are easily integrated into your WMLScript functions. These standard libraries are discussed in depth in Chapter V.
Dynamic Wireless Application Development I
Authors: Chen Lei-da , Skelton Gordon W.
Published: May 2011

A wireless application is designed to function when the device is connected to networks (e.g., the Internet) or other devices wirelessly. An example of such an application is a directory service, such as Indigo, found on handsets and PDAs with wireless Web services. These applications allow users to access and even manipulate data on the move. More and more organizations are beginning to develop wireless applications for their employees so they can access critical corporate data whenever and wherever the service is available. The primary advantage of a wireless application over a mobile application is that the user can have access to the most up-to-date information; therefore, if the information in an organization frequently changes, a wireless application is more appropriate in this situation.
Mobile Application Development I
Authors: Chen Lei-da , Skelton Gordon W.
Published: May 2011

n the previous chapter on mobile application development, we developed an order placement system (OPS) using Microsoft Embedded Visual Basic (EVB). Although EVB provides developers with the basic tools for developing mobile applications, it has many limitations. Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 addresses these limitations by including tools for developing smart device applications. Using these tools, developers can create mobile applications for PocketPCs or other Windows CE devices with relative ease and flexibility. Similar to EVB, Visual Studio .NET uses a form-based approach to build applications and provides developers with WYSIWYG tools for user interface development, but as you will find in this chapter, it not only provides many new tools to enrich the application but also simplifies many tasks that are cumbersome in EVB (i.e., creating menus and interacting with databases). Furthermore, Visual Studio .NET allows developers to use a number of different programming languages including Visual Basic and C# to develop applications so that developers can leverage their existing programming skill sets. To illustrate how Visual Studio .NET can be deployed to develop mobile applications, we will develop an upgraded version of the OPS in this chapter. In order to provide a better comparison between Visual Studio .NET and EVB, we will use Visual Basic as the programming language in this project.
ACM's Attention ot Women in IT
Authors: Hazzan Orit , Levy Dalit
Published: May 2011

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a major force in advancing the skills of information-technology professionals and students worldwide. It was founded in 1947, and today has about 80,000 members. This article summarizes how this organization views the issue of women’s participation in the hi-tech field. As it turns out, though the topic is addressed extensively in the association’s newsletters and reports, women representation in these fields remains low.
Checking Female Foeticide in the Information Age
Authors: Sharma Chetan , Jain Divya
Published: May 2011

In India, the practice of sex-selective abortion or female foeticide (in which an unborn baby is aborted or killed before birth simply because it is not a boy) is only the latest manifestation of a long history of gender bias, evident in the historically low and declining population ratio of women to men. Moreover, the medical fraternity in India has been quick to see entrepreneurial opportunities in catering to insatiable demands for a male child. Until recently, the technology was prohibitively expensive. The three chief pre-natal diagnostic tests being used to determine the sex of a foetus (sexing) are amniocentesis, chronic villi biopsy (CVB) and ultrasonography. Amniocentesis is meant to be used in high-risk pregnancies, in women older than 35 years. CVB is meant to diagnose inherited diseases like thalassaemia, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. Ultrasonography is the most commonly used technique. It is non-invasive and can identify up to 50% of abnormalities related to the central nervous system of the foetus. But sexing has become its preferred application. A ban on the government departments at the center and in the states, making use of pre-natal sex determination for the purpose of abortion a penal offence, led to the commercialization of the technology; private clinics providing sex determination tests through amniocentesis multiplied rapidly and widely. These tests are made available in areas that do not even have potable water, with marginal farmers willing to take loans at 25% interest to have the test. Advertisements appear blatantly encouraging people to abort their female foetuses to save the future cost of dowry. The portable ultrasound machine has allowed doctors to go from house to house in towns and villages. In a democracy, it is difficult to restrict rights to business and livelihood if the usual parameters are fulfilled. An argument by Rathee (2001) brings to light the fact that the recent technological developments in medical practice combined with a vigorous pursuit of growth of the private health sector have led to the mushrooming of a variety of sex-selective services. This has happened not only in urban areas, but deep within rural countryside, also—areas where the other dimensions of healthcare and development are yet to penetrate. Indeed, the indications are that given these lethal combinations, the phenomenon of sex-selective abortions is growing nationwide. Furthermore, these discriminatory services are being provided and projected in the name of “democratic choice” as a measure of “upliftment” of women, since they are being saved from dowry deaths, burning and other forms of torture and violence they would have undergone once they were born. This pure greed for money is also equated by a large section of doctors to “people’s demand.”
Childhood Interest in Computers and Adult Career Choices in IT
Authors: Cleary Paul F.
Published: May 2011

A considerable amount of interest in the past several years has been devoted to the characteristics and dynamics of the fast-growing information technology (IT) industry in the United States (U.S.). Particular attention has been focused on how gains from increasing computer and Internet use are distributed across society. Do all segments of society enjoy the same level of access and use of computers and the Internet, or do some segments of society benefit more from computer and Internet use than others? This question has engaged a widespread and prolonged debate surrounding the issues of fairness of IT participation and use in the U.S. By the same token, many in recent years have also focused on how interest in IT and computer and Internet use are distributed across society. In this article, I focus attention on gender participation in IT: Are there differences in both interest in IT as a profession, and computer and Internet use across the U.S., and do these differences persist among young people? While there is considerable evidence that gaps in Internet access and use by gender have largely disappeared (Mossberger, Tolbert, & Stansbury, 2003; Companie, 2001; Norris, 2001; Warschauer, 2003), there is a growing concern that differences in interest in the IT industry by gender are, in fact, widening. Although evidence suggests that the societal gender gap in Internet access and use has largely disappeared, a gender gap in IT professions still exists and, in fact, is widening. Measuring the magnitude of the gap is complicated because there are varying definitions as to which occupations comprise the core IT professions. Using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Current Population Survey (CPS), Meares and Sargent identify four core IT occupations: computer scientists, computer engineers, systems analysts, and computer programmers (1999, pp. 3-4), while The Council of Economic Advisors identifies five core IT occupations: electrical and electronic engineers, computer systems analysts and scientists, operations and systems researchers and analysts, computer programmers, and computer operators (The Council of Economic Advisors, 2000, p. 3). Assuming that working in an IT occupation constitutes interest in the field, then if the level of participation among women in IT declines, presumably, so does their interest in the IT industry.
Cultural Factors and Collective Identity of Women in ICT
Authors: Web Phyl , Young Judy
Published: May 2011

There is a considerable body of research to support the longstanding problem of a gender imbalance in the ICT industry (Ahuja, 2002; Baroudi & Igbaria, 1994; Cukier, Shortt, & Devine, 2002; D’agostini, 2003; Frenkel, 1991; Moody, Beise, Woszczynski, & Myers, 2003; Nielsen, von Hellens, & Wong, 2000; Nielsen, von Hellens, & Wong, 2001). However it appears there has been little attempt to draw it together to inform the influences and impacts that many women face when employed in the industry. The objective of this article is to examine research focussing on two factors that have impacted on the experiences of women who have established careers in the ICT industry.
Directing Equal Pay in the UK ICT Labour Market
Authors: Keogh Claire , Tattersall Angela , Richardson Helen
Published: May 2011

The UK labour market is dramatically changing, with rapid technological innovations alongside globalisation where organisations are required to place a premium on human and intellectual capital. The demand for labour is outstripping supply, and businesses are increasingly dependent on their ability to attract, invest in and develop their workforce (Kingsmill, 2003). However, a recent comparative report of the information technology (IT) workforce in Holland, Germany and the UK indicates that women are haemorrhaging out of the IT sector (Platman & Taylor, 2004). Given that presently there is an IT specialist’s skills shortage of 18.4% (IER/IFF, 2003), and female IT managers represent a mere 15% of ICT managers, 30% of IT operations technicians and 11% of IT strategy planning professionals (EOC, 2004a), this suggests that the ICT industry is not equipped for equality and diversity at work. Despite many years of egalitarian rhetoric and 3 decades after the UK Equal Pay Act (1970) was introduced, women still receive on average 18% less than that of their male counterparts working full-time and 41% less than men when working part-time hours. The ESF-funded DEPICT project seeks to identify pay discrimination experienced by women in ICT at a national level throughout England. An important aim is to highlight the impact of pay and reward discrimination has on the underrepresentation of women in the ICT labour market. From this study, we hope to more clearly understand the reasons for the gender pay gap, particularly in the ICT sector; and the impact this has on women’s entry and retention to occupations where they are already severely underrepresented. Equal pay is an issue for all; it’s unjust, unlawful and impacts on social justice, equality and economic performance (EOC, 2001b). Pay is a major factor affecting relationships at work; distribution and levels of pay and benefits affect efficiency of organisations, workforce morale and productivity. It is vital for organisations to develop pay systems that reward workers fairly for the work they perform (ACAS, 2005).
Earnings of Women with Computer Sciences or Engineering College Majors
Authors: Weinberger Catherine J.
Published: May 2011

This short article documents that women with college majors in computer science or engineering earn far more than other female college graduates1. This relationship is rarely discussed, as far more emphasis is usually placed on the difference in earnings between women and similarly educated men. While the existence of within-field gender pay gaps is important to monitor, these gaps do not necessarily deter women from entering a field. In fact, previous research finds that gender pay gaps tend to be relatively small among young college graduates with computer science or engineering majors, compared to the gender pay gaps in other fields (Weinberger, 1999, 2005; Weinberger & Joy, 2006). The combination of high average pay and low gender gaps in technical fields translates to particularly strong financial incentives for young women to enter these fields. The statistics presented here are computed from nationally representative studies of United States (U.S.) college graduates. The first study is based on a sub-sample of 1990 U.S. Census respondents who also completed a detailed survey about their educational attainment in 1993, and were surveyed again in 1999. The second study is based on a representative group of 1992 U.S. high school seniors who were resurveyed in 1999, after most had completed their education. This study includes detailed information about each student, including 12th-grade standardized math test scores. Overall, the estimates presented here suggest that women with computer science or engineering college majors earn 30%-50% more than otherwise similar female college graduates.
Empower Gender Diversity with Agile Software Development
Authors: Hazzan Orit , Dubinsky Yael
Published: May 2011

Gender issues have recently been discussed extensively with respect to the computing fields (Bair & McGrathe-Cohoon, 2005; Camp, 2002; Margolis & Fisher, 2002). One of the discussed issues is the “shrinking pipeline” phenomenon (Camp, 1997). Camp shows how, in addition to the shrinking of the pipeline upon transition from high school to graduate school, the pipeline has been shrinking also at the bachelor-degree level since 1983. She argues that since the number of women at the bachelor’s level affects the number of women at levels higher in the pipeline and in the job market, this phenomenon is of great concern. The shrinking pipeline is explained in various ways. Among other explanations, the image of the field as requiring long hours of programming is a dominant one. Here is an illustrative case. The April 3, 2003, edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Business News addressed the question of why more women are not involved in the tech fields.1 This question was discussed by a panel, assembled by the Pittsburgh Technology Council a week before the article was published, which included some of the region’s most successful women. Among other arguments, Robbin Steif, chief financial officer of Maya Design, said, “It might be an issue of self-selection—women might not be risk takers.” Then she added, “It might also have something to do with the work/family issue, because entrepreneurs work way more than 40 hours per week.” This article focuses on software development teams using one of the agile software development methods. A high quality of working software is the primary measure of progress; however, agile software development processes, in addition, promote a sustainable pace for all the individuals (developers and users) involved in the software development process,2 welcome requirement changes even in late stages of the development, and favor face-to-face communication. Based on our observations of agile software teams both in academia and in industry, we claim that such software development frameworks enable women to gain new and better positions in the hi-tech industry in general and in software development teams in particular. We view this article as an example of how diversity can be achieved in software teams. In our current research, we explore other dimensions by which diversity can be achieved in software teams, such as minorities and nationalities. The perspective and data that are presented in this article are part of our research about human aspects of software engineering, specifically our comprehensive research about cognitive and organizational aspects of agile software development methods both in the industry and academia (Dubinsky & Hazzan, 2004; Dubinsky, Talby, Hazzan, & Keren, in press; Hazzan & Dubinsky, 2003a, 2003b; Tomayko & Hazzan, 2004).q
Factors that Influence Women and Men to Enroll in IT Majors
Authors: McInerney Claire R.
Published: May 2011

Because of the ubiquitous nature of information technology, there is a continuous need for IT professionals. There has been a steady growth in the information technology industry as well as an increase in the use of information technology. However, the number of qualified technology workers has not kept up with the demand for technology-skilled labor. One reason for the workforce shortage is that women are underrepresented. Not only are there many fewer women in the IT workforce, but there are fewer women entering and graduating from traditional technology-related academic programs like computer science (CS), computer engineering (CE), and systems science. In 1986, approximately 36% of the U.S. graduates in CS and CE were women; in 2004, 17% were women (Bryant & Irwin, 2001; Carver, 1999; Zweben, 2005). Of those earning doctoral degrees in 2004 only 18% were women (Zweben, 2005). Given that 51% of the total population is women, these statistics give a vivid explanation of why there is a shortage of IT workers.
Fostering Technology Interest Among High School Girls
Authors: Grant Donna M. , Knight Linda V. , Steinbach Theresa A.
Published: May 2011

This article describes a pilot program that uses a holistic approach to address the multitude of barriers girls face when considering a career in the information technology (IT) field. Girls with Engineering Mindz (GEMz) is a highly structured technology program developed to encourage female high school students to embrace technology while strengthening their academic, personal, and social development. GEMz is not just a program for girls to develop technical skills. The premise of the GEMz program is to attract and maintain its participants by developing multiple components of the “whole” person. The GEMz program was designed to attract its participants to the IT industry through a three-prong strategy: develop technical skills in a societal framework, enhance basic life skills, and promote positive self-images. The name GEMz was selected to promote enthusiasm and collaboration among program participants. Teams are given the names of precious gems, (e.g., Diamonds, Rubies, etc.) to symbolize their positive self-worth as valuable contributors to both technology and their communities.
Gender and Computing at University in the UK
Authors: Woodfield Ruth
Published: May 2011

In the late 1970s, women’s progress and participation in the more traditional scientific and technical fields, such as physics and engineering, was slow, prompting many feminist commentators to conclude that these areas had developed a near-unshakeable masculine bias. Although clearly rooted in the domains of science and technology, the advent of the computer was initially seen to challenge this perspective. It was a novel kind of artefact, a machine that was the subject of its own newly created field: “computer science” (Poster, 1990, p. 147). The fact that it was not quite subsumed within either of its parent realms led commentators to argue that computer science was also somewhat ambiguously positioned in relation to their identity as masculine. As such, it was claimed that its future trajectory as equally masculine could not be assumed, and the field of computing might offer fewer obstacles and more opportunities for women than they had experienced before. Early predictions of how women’s role in relation to information technology would develop were consequently often highly optimistic in tone. Computing was hailed as “sex-blind and colour-blind” (Williams, Cited in Griffths 1988, p. 145; see also Zientara, 1987) in support of a belief that women would freely enter the educational field, and subsequently the profession, as the 1980s advanced. During this decade, however, it became increasingly difficult to deny that this optimism was misplaced. The numbers of females undertaking undergraduate courses in the computer sciences stabilised at just over a fifth of each cohort through the 1980s and 1990s, and they were less likely to take them in the more prestigious or research-based universities (Woodfield, 2000). Tracy Camp’s landmark article “The Incredible Shrinking Pipeline” (1997), using data up to 1994, plotted the fall-off of women in computer science between one educational level and the next in the US. It noted that “a critical point” was the drop-off before bachelor-level study—critical because the loss of women was dramatic, but also because a degree in computer science is often seen as one of the best preparatory qualifications for working within a professional IT role1. The main aim of this article is to examine how the situation has developed since 1994, and within the UK context. It will also consider its potential underlying causes, and possible routes to improvement.
Gender and Education in Oral Traditions, Culture, and ICTs
Authors: Sharma Chetan , Maindiratta Y. R.
Published: May 2011

Seelampur, situated in the northeastern part of Delhi, the capital city of India, is characterized by low-income groups, high population density and poor civic amenities. It is a Muslim-dominated area with a high density of population and low family incomes. The average monthly family income is about 60-80 United States (U.S.) dollars, and the average family consists of eight members. Within Seelampur, the area of Zaffarabad (having approximately 90% Muslim population) stands out as a pocket of extreme urban poverty and immensely poor living conditions; open drains are clogged with sewage, power breakdowns are frequent, houses are dilapidated and people are residing in overcrowded lanes. Lack of opportunities in terms of education and employment also mark the life for people here. Formal education has become quite common, and thus, enrolment is high, but dropping out at different grades is a continuing problem. Most young women have not completed high school, as they usually drop out of the school after finishing Grade 8. Datamation Foundation initiated some work in the area, particularly with women, in 2002. At this time, UNESCO launched a pilot initiative to innovate and research social and technological strategies to put information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the hands of the poor. This seemed a good opportunity in the given context, so an ICT center was set up at Zaffarabad. The initiative seeks to deploy ICTs to address urban poverty and is designed to empower the women of Seelampur.
Gender Identity, the Culture of Organizations, and Women's IT Careers
Authors: Caroll Wendy R. , Mills Albert J.
Published: May 2011

The decreasing number of women in information technology (IT) programs and careers has received increasing attention over the last decade (Arnold & Niederman, 2001; Camp, 1997; Cukier, Shortt, & Devine, 2002; Klawe & Leveson, 1995; Niederman & Mandviwalla, 2004). The proliferation of technology innovations over the last 20 years has made the computer less of a mystery to the general public and placed it in a more prominent place in both the office and home. The integration of networks and the placement of the personal computer as a new artifact in society has signaled both cultural as well as technological changes for the future (Woodfield, 2000). However, bigger transformations are yet to emerge. The future efforts of technology will focus on areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and bio-technology and implications are significant. Yet, despite these major changes, organizational cultures across businesses appear to have retained their masculine bias or feel. If the current trend of under representation of women in the IT field continues (Camp, 1997; Klawe & Leveson, 1995; MacInnis & Khanna, 2005), these future developments will be without the influence of women, and IT will become entrenched in the public psyche as a masculine pursuit (Woodfield, 2000). The purpose of this article is to present an overview of organizational culture and its influence on gendering identities. Further, an exploration of the evolution of organizational culture within the IT discipline will be offered to assist with our understanding of why fewer women are pursuing IT careers.
Gender Recruitment Issues in the IT Sector
Authors: Sharma Chetan , Jain Divya
Published: May 2011

In India, low literacy rates, traditional gender roles, lack of marketable skills and lower educational levels make it difficult for women to find employment, especially skilled or technical jobs. Women often must settle for jobs that are low paid and require little skill. The problem is compounded for women from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are often forced to work in the informal sector of the economy, which affords little job security or growth potential. The information technology (IT) sector has become a driving force in India’s economic development, accelerating job and revenue creation. As opportunities continue to grow, IT jobs have the potential to create financial stability for greater numbers of employees. Lack of adequate training, high illiteracy rates and low familiarity with computers and the Internet have kept women from entering the IT job market in significant numbers so far, despite the fact that women employees bring other valuable qualities to the workplace, like loyalty, attention to detail and good interpersonal skills. Recognizing the benefit of increasing the number of women in the workforce, Datamation Consultants Pvt. Ltd. is using IT training to extend job opportunities to women from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These women not only lack the technical training and skills that would otherwise allow them access to these jobs, but often lack even basic education. Through an innovative public-private partnership program, Datamation works with local non-profit partners to give these women the training they need, and then recruits successful trainees for full-time jobs within the company.
The Impact of Gender and Ethnicity on Participation in IT
Authors: Paynter John
Published: May 2011

The excitement of information technology is not only within the discipline itself. Advances in computers have led to leaps in almost every academic discipline and changed the very nature of our everyday lives. The knowledge revolution has resulted in rapid changes to the way we work and live. This includes the offering of an increasing range of career opportunities that did not exist before. Computing is one of the fastest growing industries, but since most jobs remain dominated by males, women remain a major latent source of talent for the technology field.
The Influences and Responses of Women in IT Education
Authors: Maser Kathryn J.
Published: May 2011

This article highlights findings from an empirical study that explores the nature of female underrepresentation in information technology. Specifically, this research focuses on (a) identifying key sociocultural factors that can facilitate the pursuit of IT at the undergraduate level, and (b) testing Trauth’s (2002) Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT through a comparison of female responses to the social construction of IT. To answer the author’s research questions, interviews were conducted with 10 female seniors in an IT department at an American university in the mid-Atlantic region (MAU).1 Although experiences with social factors vary, comparing the stories of women who have successfully navigated their way into and through an IT undergraduate degree program reveals common influences and motivations. In addition, though some common factors may facilitate female entry into the field, the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT explains that women will react differently to the social constructions of gender and IT. By gaining a better understanding of the gender imbalance, applying appropriate theories to explain the problem, and uncovering the challenges that women of our society face in their entry to the field of IT, collegiate programs can more effectively implement strategies that will improve the recruitment and retention of female students.
IT Workforce Composition and Characteristics
Authors: Rosenbloom Joshua L. , Ash Ronald A. , Coder LeAnne , Dupont Brandon
Published: May 2011

Women are under represented in the information technology (IT) workforce. In the United States, although women make up about 45% of the overall labor force they make up only about 35% of the IT workforce. (Information Technology Association of America, 2003, p. 11). Within IT, women’s representation declines as one moves up to higher-level occupations. While women are relatively more numerous among data entry keyers and computer operators, they are relatively less likely to be found in high-level occupations like systems analysts and computer programmers. The relatively low representation of women in IT fields parallels a broader pattern of gender differentials in other scientific and technical fields. In all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields combined, women held 25.9% of jobs in 2003. Women’s representation varies widely by sub-fields, however; 65.8% of psychologists and 54.6% of social scientists are women, but only 10.4% of engineers, and 37.4% of natural scientists (Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, 2004, p. 2). Over the course of the past 100 years, there has been a dramatic change in women’s economic role. In 1900, only one in five adult women worked outside the home, and most of these were young and unmarried (Goldin, 1990). Since then, male and female labor force participation rates have tended to converge. Between 1900 and 1950 there was a gradual expansion of women’s labor force participation. After World War II the pace of change accelerated sharply as more married women entered the labor force. During the 1960s and early 1970s a series of legal changes significantly broadened protection of women’s rights ending essentially all forms of overt discrimination (Fuchs, 1988; Long, 2001, p. 9-10). The removal of these barriers in combination with the availability of cheap and reliable birth control technology greatly facilitated the entry of women into higher education, and technical and professional positions (Goldin & Katz, 2002). Nevertheless, as the figures cited at the outset reveal, women’s participation in IT and other technical fields has not increased as rapidly as it has in less technical fields. And in striking contrast to the general trend toward increasing female participation in most areas of the workforce, women’s share of the IT workforce in the United States has actually declined over the past two decades. Any effort to explain gender differences in IT must begin with an understanding of how the number, characteristics, and pay of women in IT have evolved over time, and across different sub-fields within IT. This chapter provides a foundation for this analysis by documenting recent changes in the number of women employed in IT, their demographic characteristics, and relative pay.
Managerial Carers, Gender, and Information Technology Field
Authors: Aaltio Iiris
Published: May 2011

Careers are organizational and institutional, and they have know-how-based contexts. Managerial careers from a gender perspective, gendered “blind spots” in organizations and the invisibility of women in management have been an object of study since the 1970s. Gender is a part of socially constructed individual identity. Gendered identities in organizations are defined and redefined in relationships as people become socially constructed through work groups, teams and interactions. Because of this social construction, femininity and masculinity grow into human behavior and outlook. Understanding gender as an activity and a term in the making (Calás & Smircich, 1996), it is a constitution of an activity, even when institutions appear to see woman and man as a stable distinction (Korvajärvi, 1998). Beyond work-life and organizations, there are multiple institutional and gendered structures. The information technology (IT) industry and companies are also an institutional construction with gendered dimensions, and they also participate on the creation of femininity and masculinity. Career can be seen as a conceptual artefact that reflects a culture and rhetorical context in its use. It is a kind of window to a network of values, institutions and functions, where actual careers are made. Usually, the formal organization is based on neutrality and equality, but a closer look reveals the deeper social structures that make it different to women and men. There is a concept of an abstract and neutral worker, and this worker is supposed to be highly competent, work-oriented and available, committed to work-life without any knit to private life. These characteristics support a good career climb in an organizational hierarchy, and many of these characteristics better suit men than women (Metcalfe & Altman, 2001). For instance, home responsibilities make often working hours less flexible for women than men. The notion of an essential person with no gender characteristics does not recognize these issues, whereas taking gender as a research topic shows that work-life as a context differs between women and men.
Migration of IT Specialists and Gender
Authors: Gapova Elena
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this article is to analyze “after the shift,” which occurred in the second half of the 20th century, from a goods-producing society to an information or knowledge society, as information technology (IT) began to be seen as a most important asset of contemporary nations. Bell argued in 1973 that in the new social order, knowledge and information would replace industrial production, and would become the “axial principle” of social organization (Bell, 1973). By the end of the 20th century, IT has also become a truly global phenomenon, involved with the reconfiguration of the labor market and human and material resources from all over the world. Gary Becker, the 1992 Nobel laureate in economics, pointed out that the United States’ (U.S.) Silicon Valley currently employs 1 million people, of whom 40% have at least a bachelor’s degree and more than one-third are foreign-born. In the new information economy, special importance is assigned to IT researchers and developers, who belong to the global group of “knowledge workers.” In the post-industrial era, IT workers have skills that allow them to compete in the global labor market, as IT jobs, by their very nature, are not tied to any particular culture and “can work” anywhere. At the same time, IT production is labor-intensive, and many first-world nations (Britain, Germany, France, Ireland, the U.S.), which have undergone a reduction in birthrates, feel that their own human resources are not sufficient for its development. In 2000, the American Institute for Electric and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) recognized that “With declining numbers from national engineering graduate programs, the U.S. has no option but to satisfy the growing need for the engineering professionals from abroad” (Institute, 1999). To bring professionals into the country, the U.S., the biggest IT developer, introduced an employer-based H1-B visa program for specialty occupations (e.g., computer professionals, programmers or engineers).
Native American Women in Computing
Authors: Varma Roli , Galindo-Sanchez Vanessa
Published: May 2011

In the 1990s, a number of efforts had been made to increase the representation of women in computer science (CS) and computer engineering (CE) education, mostly to compensate for the expected shortfall of candidates from the traditional source: 18-year-old non-Hispanic white males. Yet, women remain underrepresented in the CS and CE disciplines. The underrepresentation of minority women is especially conspicuous and is absolutely glaring among Native American women. Though there are studies on the underrepresentation of women in CS and CE education, there are very few studies on minority women, and there is very little scholarly work on Native American women. Because Native Americans—officially classified as American Indians and/or Alaska Natives—are relatively small in number (1.5% of the U.S. population), they are seldom represented in assessments of gender and/or racial disparities in CS and CE education. The educational attainment levels of Native American women have improved significantly over the last two decades. Despite these advances, the education level of Native American women remains considerably below the levels of the total population. They are less likely than the total population to graduate from high school, to enroll in college, and to graduate from college (Madrid, 1997). Native American women who do enroll in and graduate from college are less likely to be in science or engineering disciplines. Native American women who do graduate in science or engineering disciplines are less likely to be in CS or CE. For instance, in 2001, Native Americans earned only 271 bachelor’s degrees in CS. Of these, Native American men earned 193 and women earned 78. Of incoming freshmen in 2002, only 4% of Native American men and 0.5% of Native American women intended to major in CS (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2004). This article discusses why so few Native American women pursue education in CS or CE disciplines after high school.