Experiences and Coping Strategies of Female System Administrators

What is it about?

The profession of system administration is highly relevant to our society and is also currently very male-dominated. This is also reflected in research on system administrators which largely relies on male-dominated samples as well. In this study, we conducted and analyzed 8 interviews with female system administrators working in Germany and investigated the experiences they encounter in their professional and private environments. Our findings show that female system administrators make negative as well as positive gender-specific experiences. To deal with negative experiences like contempt or underestimation the female system administrators have developed certain coping strategies. These include adapting to their male-dominated environment in terms of language and dress choices, confronting misbehaving colleagues or clients, and even exploiting existing gender stereotypes to their advantage. Furthermore, our results highlight the huge impact that both professional and personal environments can have on female system administrators.

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Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash