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Investigation into the under-representation of women in project management in China's Information, Communication and Technology sector

This project investigates some aspects of why a minority of ICT project management professionals in the Chinese ICT sector are female. It investigates differences between sexes in their perceived image and knowledge of ICT work, and the relationship between their career paths and gender roles. A literature review identified that little research on women in ICT in China had been carried out prior to this project. The literature on women in traditional male industries (e.g. ICT, engineer, civil engineer) in western countries yielded certain insights and transferable research methods. A pilot interview survey of four parents, six tutors, six students and eight ICT practitioners was undertaken to develop the main semi-structured interview survey instruments. The main survey yielded responses from thirty students and thirty ICT practitioners. The data interpretation and analysis method adopted grounded theory since, as mentioned above; there little relevant research has been carried out on the topic in China. The results are presented in a consistent way to make the data more comparable. Conclusions are drawn based on findings arising from the body of work and academia as a whole. There were found to be some differences between sexes in certain aspects of their views of ICT (project management) work and aspiration to career choice and advancement. The ICT sector has as a working environment is characterised by conflict (androgynous and male-dominant working style), competence, and keeping abreast of developing ICT technologies, which are thought to be more suitable to men. Gender division actually exists, and family responsibilities hold women back in their career advancement in the ICT sector in China.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:728028
Date January 2017
CreatorsHu, Yuan Yuan
PublisherUniversity of Manchester
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttps://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/investigation-into-the-underrepresentation-of-women-in-project-management-in-chinas-information--communication-and-technology-sector(6af5b144-1976-4117-a1a1-008330ab9a6c).html

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