Occupational inheritance and the decision for a university career: a study on women IT professionals in Peru

Abstract

Despite the thriving job market for Information Technology (IT) professionals worldwide, Peru faces a stark gender disparity, with only 1% of women graduating from IT-related university careers. Addressing this gap requires understanding the factors influencing women's career decisions. One important aspect is the influence of familial encouragement and role modeling. This article investigates the professions or occupations of the parents of women IT professionals and their potential impact on their daughters' vocational choices, particularly in a context scarcely explored such as Peru. Through an exploratory study using a survey and a purposive sample of Peruvian women graduates from IT-related university careers, we found that fathers predominantly play a pivotal role, often with backgrounds in engineering or technical fields. This research sheds light on the importance of familial support and parental role models in shaping women's career choices in the IT field. Recognizing these influences holds the potential to boost the number of women pursuing careers in IT. © 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.