”Alla företag vill ju ha fler kvinnliga IT-konsulter” Att attrahera, rekrytera och behålla kvinnor i en mansdominerad bransch – en kvalitativ studie

Abstract

Women and men participate almost to the same extent in the Swedish labour market, but despite this, the labour market is still gender-segregated. The differences between women and men are found in different professions, sectors and industries (Peterson, 2017) and also in working tasks, working conditions, remuneration and benefits. One of the most gender-segregated sectors is the IT industry where traditional male professions such as software and system developers are found. Today companies need to work with their Employer Branding in order to attract women with IT skills. Companies with strong Employer Branding have better opportunities to attract more job-seekers and facilitate them to identify with the company. The overall purpose of the study is to provide knowledge of the targeted efforts a male-dominated company can use to attract, recruit and retain employees, especially women. In order to fulfil this purpose, we have studied the recruitment and marketing strategies used by an IT consulting company, as well as their strategies for retaining employees. This Bachelor thesis focuses on whether and how these strategies can be designed to specifically target women in a male dominated industry. The theoretical framework is based on earlier research and theories concerning HR strategies for attracting, recruiting and retaining employees in general. We have then taken a perspective to reflect the difficulties in the IT industry to attract, recruit and retain women. As a method we have used a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews in order to achieve the aim of the study. Our empirical study consists of seven semi-structured interviews from two different groups; people working in the HR department and women working as IT consultants. The result of the study shows that the studied company can use Employer Branding, Competence Development, Transactional- and Relational Rewards, Job Satisfaction and Commitment in order to attract, recruit and retain more employees, especially women in a male-dominated industry. Furthermore, women that work as IT consultants consider that targeted efforts are not necessary because they do not want to be broken down by gender.