Gender Perspective of Software Engineering Working Climate - A Case Study

Abstract

It is known that females are underrepresented in the field of software engineering, and the importance of efforts to involve more women in the area has been acknowledged. This paper reports from a case study in a large software company about gender perspective on working climate in the field of software engineering. This paper focuses on comparing and contrasting women and men’s perceptions of the working climate. Our study confirms that diversity, including gender, is a highly appreciated and desired aspect in the study. Issues reported in the literature such as unfair treatment of women are not reported on in the study. Our findings show that the employee’s perceptions of the working climate are mostly affected by individual personalities. However, this topic is complex and sensitive; receiving open and genuine answers can prove difficult.