Unveiling women's expectations as ICT professionals: A survey study

Several studies report the positive impacts of gender diversity on software development teams. However, it is common knowledge that women face many challenges to remain in the job market, especially in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Goal: This paper investigates the perception of ICT women practitioners about their expectations in the job market, mainly concerning salary expectations, work performance and experience, incentive policies, and satisfaction. Method: We surveyed 192 women who work or have worked in the Brazilian software industry. We used mixed methods to analyze the data. Results: Our findings reveal that around 41% of the women are satisfied with the current salary and approximately 23% of them have a full seniority level. Furthermore, more than half of ICT practitioners stated that their work performance was consistent with their professional growth. Conclusions: Although women ICT practitioners have not met their expectations about their professional goals, they are satisfied with their performance in the job market.