Hårdkodade ideal i ett nytänkande företag

Sammanfattning: The Swedish IT industry is growing and has become one of the biggest industries in Sweden. Throughout history the industry has been dominated by male employees, and the problem of attracting women still remains. The unequal gender distribution implies a huge loss in competence and a high expense for society. Previous studies have shown that a major part of the explanation to why women turn down a career within IT is based on the idea of not being able to identify oneself with the preconceived perceptions of the industry. Therefore, it is important to study the preconceived image of an ideal employee because it impacts women's choice of entering and staying in the industry. Research on the ideal employee in the IT consulting industry is yet to be covered in the organizational context of a company that is in the lead in its industry regarding gender equality. Using qualitative methods, a multiple case study is conducted on a main company and two contrasting firms. The study suggests that technical work is perceived as being more interesting and receives a higher status than less technical work at the company. This reveals an inofficial hierarchy based on work tasks. Furthermore, the presence of gendered work ideals result in the questioning of women's technical competencies at client companies. Women are assumed to have lower technical capabilities and are thus pushed towards more administrative roles despite equivalent educational background as men. The gendering of work tasks result in a gender hierarchy placing men at the top and women at the bottom. In order to change the male ideal, not only the gender distribution, but the gender structures need to be changed. However, as most of the work is performed externally at the client, a change requires industry-wide involvement in order to succeed.