Regepe Entrepreneurship and Small Business Journal (Feb 2025)
Perception of gender stereotypes in the intention to undertake in the area of information technology: A qualitative study with undergraduate students at a federal university
Abstract
The objective The aim of this study is to understand how women in higher education in Information Technology (IT) perceive the influence of gender stereotypes on their intention to undertake their field of activity. Through basic qualitative research, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with students of the Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology (BTI) at a Brazilian federal university. As an analysis strategy, content analysis was used, in the thematic/categorical modality, with the support of the ATLAS.ti® software. The main results showed that gender stereotypes are common in the IT sector and that the insertion of women in entrepreneurship tends to be affected by this perception. As theoretical contributions, a lack of female self-representation in leadership positions in business was observed, and sexism was perceived as a social problem and a cause of the reported inequalities. The relevance of this article lies in the gap in the literature on female entrepreneurship from the perspective of gender stereotypes, especially in the IT sector. Social contributions to management consist of producing insights into the problem of female entrepreneurship in the IT sector, an area with little empirical research on the subject, which can assist in the development of public policies and initiatives that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in this field.
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