Qualitative analysis of the positive leadership program

Project Details

Gender equality continues to be a challenge in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry. The Women in Technology (WIT) Program was founded with the vision of creating sustainable change for women in Technology at NAB through building women’s confidence and leadership capacity. The current project provided an independent evaluation of the WIT program. It explored how WIT contributes to sustainable change across the four areas of: experience of WIT, applications of WIT learning, impressions of wider systemic and cultural change, and areas for growth and improvement. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 NAB staff to explore the impact of WIT on women professionally and personally. The majority of participants were female and worked in the Information and Communications Technology field. Results indicate this program helped to address the gender imbalance in the technology sector by creating opportunities for women working in technology at NAB. NAB employees involved in the program experienced a range of positive personal and career-related outcomes, including increased personal growth and confidence, self-compassion and acceptance, and heightened awareness of their own gender biases. Hence, WIT serves a good example of how women in technology can be supported.

Researchers

Dianne Vella-Brodrick

Funding

National Australia Bank