Gender, Skilled Migration and IT: a comparative study of India and the UK

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The global Information Technology (IT) sector is characterised by low participation of women and the UK is no exception. In response, UK organizations (e.g. Women in Technology), committees (e.g. BCS Women) and campaigns (e.g. Computer Clubs for Girls) have been set up to address the problem and increase the small and falling number of women in IT education, training and employment. To complement and provide an evidence base for future interventions this project will adopt a new approach, differentiated from existing research by considering the problem from two unexplored angles simultaneously. First, India, in comparison with most OECD countries, has a much higher proportion of women working as IT specialists; the project will compare the experiences of IT workers in India and the UK to see what the UK can learn from the Indian case. Secondly, the research will explore the insights of migrant women and men who move between UK and India and have experience of both work cultures in order to obtain new insights into gender norms in each country as well as best practice. Through this multidisciplinary, comparative analysis across the two countries, and of the experiences of migrants, 2 significant but separate fields of academic research will be brought together: 1) gender issues in IT, and 2) gender and skilled migration.The questions the research seeks to answer are: a) What are the patterns of gender differences in the labour market among migrant and non-migrant workers in the IT sector in India and the UK? This aims to identify differences in occupational roles, wages, and whether size of firms or other demographic variables matter; b) What processes have led to different gendered patterns of workplace experiences among migrant and non-migrant workers in the IT sector in India and the UK? This question's comparative approach will address a specific knowledge gap by exploring the perspectives of men as well as women, migrants as well as non-migrants, in both countries; c) is oriented around the concerns of businesses and policy-makers and asks, what is the role of firms, industry and national regulations and cultures in creating barriers and opportunities for migrant and non-migrant men and women's career entry and progression and labour markets? The answers will be sought from HR managers and policy makers in both countries;d) acknowledges that many firms are already trying to develop organisational cultures and career pathways to address the gender disparity in the IT sector; it asks, what are the best practices for integrating women into firms in each country and how does this differ by migration status? This question involves exploring the experiences of migrant men as well as migrant and non-migrant women, and establishes mechanisms for sharing best practice between firms and between the two countries.To ensure the research is timely, relevant and will generate useful information, it was developed through conversations with the Indian and UK IT sectors' key professional and trade associations, chartered bodies, IT education campaigners and advocates, and multinational IT companies. During the project, individual representatives from 5 of these organizations - a Professional Advisory Group (PAG) - will meet regularly with the researchers, to discuss the findings and offer advice. The IT companies will facilitate the research by introducing the researchers to voluntary cohorts of men and women IT employees in each country. Because of the urgency of the issue the firms and PAG have asked for 3 best practice guides during the project. At the end of the project, the researchers will produce a targeted report for the PAG organisations and for firms. Through the PAG, this report will be disseminated to their corporate memberships, numbering in the thousands, and to UK and Indian policy makers through focused workshops. Other users of the research include the OECD and IOM with which the researchers have links.