The New IT Gender Gap
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Men and women in IT perform the same tasks, but they don't share the same views on critical issues facing the nation, including the top priority of the next president, regulating the Internet and protecting individual privacy on the Web. |
CompTIA, a computing industry trade group, just published a report entitled IT Workers and the 2008 Election that breaks down the views of 600 IT professionals surveyed in late summer: 77 percent men and 23 percent women.
A plurality of both sexes rank the war in Iraq as the top issue confronting the next president, but many more women than men feel that way: 36 percent to 28 percent. Twenty percent of women rank the economy as the most pressing issue; terrorism ranks second among men, selected by 24 percent of male respondents.
More than half the men—51 percent—contend free trade helps America; only 37 percent of women share that view.
Though a large majority of both sexes say the government should not regulate the Internet as it does TV and telephones, men feel more strongly about it than women: 86 percent to 68 percent.
While 61 percent of men believe individuals are most responsible for their protecting their own privacy on the Internet, only 46 percent of women agree. Privacy protection primarily belongs to business [24 percent women/17 percent men] and government [13 percent women/11 percent men].
The report also addresses other issues in which men and women relatively agree, including protecting intellectual property, tax incentives for IT training and trade policy, and it provides breakdowns by age, education, income, party affiliation and race.
