The women software communities, also known as women in tech communities,
have increased their popularity during the past few years. The
underrepresentation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering,
mathematics) industry, together with the growing labour and skill
shortage in the software industry, have both been major reasons why
high-level decision makers have woken up to investigate the unbalanced
gender division. The labour shortage is stated to be among the most
significant reasons why software companies are not growing as fast as
they wish. Therefore, new talents (and in this case, women) are expected
by the industry. Universities are working hard to train new talents,
governments are doing their share on the matter and now software
companies have started to act on the cause all by themselves. However,
the question is that what kind of role women software communities have
in this labour and skill shortage picture?In this study, we examine the
role of and need for the women software communities in attracting more
women to the software industry. The empirical data is collected with an
open internet survey (n=134) and the results highlight the importance of
the women software communities as the low threshold inspiration actors
and influencers to attract more women to the field. The results also
emphasize the fact that women will benefit from peer support from other
women, but when there is a need for more advanced trainings and events,
gender limitation in participants is not needed.