The role of social media in empowering the involvement of women in information technology workforce in Iraq

• Main Author: Mohammed, Rammah Ghanim
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: T58.5-58.64 Information technology
• Online Access: https://etd.uum.edu.my/5623/1/s815091_01.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/5623/2/s815091_02.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/5623/

The underrepresentation of the women workforce in the field of Information Technology (IT) in Iraq has been closely observed over the last few years. One of the facts is that social media have been widely and intensively used in Iraq, which is an effective way to empower women in the IT workforce. This study aimed to investigate women's awareness of using social media to get empowered in the IT workforce as well as the role of the social media in women empowerment in this sector. In order to achieve the objectives of this research and based on the theory of cyberfeminism, the current study conducted a survey amongst the female students of the University of Baghdad - College of Education Ibn al-Haytham and tried to find out how the use of social media is contributing to the growth of women participation in the IT workforce. For this purpose a sample of 162 female students was taken from this college. The quantitative method was used to collect data for this study. The findings in this study revealed there was a significant relationship between women's awareness and the encouragement of women in the IT workforce through the use of the social media. Besides, there was a significant relationship between the empowerment of women and the encouragement of women in the IT workforce through the use of the social media. Hence, women's awareness and empowerment of women through the social media encouraged the involvement of women in the IT workforce. In addition, this study recommends several suggestions for further research.