From the margins to a field of opportunities: Life story patterns of women in ICT

SynopsisThis article deals with the experiences of women working in IT professions in seven European countries. It describes what we identified as life story patterns in the material of 107 biographical interviews. One reason to look for patterns is the diversity of our informants' professional trajectories. The trajectories themselves are not ‘telling’ unless seen in the context of the women's life stories — opportunities, choices, and life themes. The life story patterns shed light on how the women perceive themselves and their working environment, considering national/cultural differences. Here we focus on one of the patterns we identified — from the margins to a field of opportunities. These are women who have seized the chance to move out from their milieu — a rural background (Austria) or an area with limited job opportunities (the South of Italy) into jobs that offer good pay, a high level of job security, and the opportunity for learning.