Browsing by Author "Kvasny, Lynette"

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    Gendered Perspectives on the Digital Divide, IT Education, and Workforce Participation in Kenya
    (2015-07-29) Ndede-Amandi, Atieno A.; Kvasny, Lynette; Payton, Fay Cobb; Mbarika, Victor W.
    Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine gendered perspectives on the digital divide, motivations for engaging in information technology (IT) education, and expectations regarding IT workforce participation in Kenya. Researchers interviewed 32 women and 31 men matriculating in an undergraduate IT-focused program at a Kenyan university. Interviewees reported that IT careers demand technical expertise, and a strong educational background in technology and business. However, their ability to meet these demands was hindered by significant national challenges such as restrictive IT policies, inadequate access to technology and educational resources, and a limited number of local firms that demonstrate the ability to manage advanced technology and IT workers. Women were particularly concerned about gender discrimination in the workplace. These findings imply that IT education and workforce entry require a complex mix of digital technologies, organizational capacity building, gender equity, and IT policy remedies.
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    IT Education and Workforce Participation: A New Era for Women in Kenya?
    (2015-07-29) Ndede-Amandi, Atieno A.; Mbarika, Victor W. A.; Payton, Fay Cobb; Kvasny, Lynette
    While Sub-Saharan African women have historically assumed the roles of both housewives and subsistence farmers, they have had few opportunities to participate in the modern economies of the region. However, this trend is changing with the exponential growth of information and communications technologies (ICT), giving many Sub-Sahara African women access to computers, the Internet, and other related technologies. Based on the work of a four-member research team fromKenya and the United States, this article examines the integration of female college students into the formal ICT work sector in Kenya. We do so by examining major bottlenecks and enablers to such integration from historical and contemporary perspectives. Using an interpretive approach, we conducted 32 interviews with women in an ICT program offered by a university in Kenya. Our findings indicate that women were highly optimistic, embracing ICT as a practical mechanism for achieving entry into the labor market. However, they perceived significant structural barriers, such as public policies that failed to facilitate the develop-ment of the ICT sector, gender discrimination by employers, and training that provided them with insufficient technical skills to enable them to effectively perform in the workplace. These findings largely confirm the gendered perspectives found in similar studies conducted in other countries. However, what appear as global perspectives are informed by the local causes.