Abstract:
ICT is driving all areas of the economy and is
likely to dictate the future for all genders. The narrow
definition of ICT has greatly impacted on the female
gender choosing ICT as a career of choice. There are few
women in the ICT careers. The study sought to determine
the nature of ICT career gender exclusion, status and trend
of ICT job opportunities, source of ICT gender career
exclusion and the contribution of the narrow definition to
the exclusion. A mixed method of survey and desktop
method was employed in this study. A structured
questionnaire was used in this study in order to identify the
factors that influence ICT career choice amongst Kenyan
lady students. A purposive sample of Information
Technology and Computer Science undergraduate
university students (77 females, 56 males; age range 17 to
35 years) and 10 postgraduate students in Information
Technology from two public universities participated in the
study. The paper discusses the emerging unfilled ICT jobs.
The study established that the narrow definition negatively
influences ICT as a career of Choice among girls.
Broadening ICT definition to include ICT related careers
that have more social rather than technical aspect
accordingly is likely to influence more women to join the
field.
