ABSTRACT
Low participation of women in nontraditional careers, such as technology and science, remains an intractable problem. Women’s limited access to social networks in male-dominated fields presents a barrier to leveraging valuable social capital towards professional opportunities and career growth. ICT and social media have engendered communication platforms that have profoundly changed traditional social-networking paradigms and have shown promise in developing the potential of women in the labor force. We explore the mechanisms by which ICT may transform traditionally male-dominated fields such that women are fully integrated. We draw from literature on empowerment theory and social network theory to form the theoretical basis for our conceptual framework on broadening the participation of women in non-traditional careers. We argue that women’s participation in non-traditional careers will result from activism stemming from women’s empowerment, facilitated by networks formed by ICT.
