Challenges Women in Software Engineering Leadership Roles Face: A Qualitative Study

Abstract: Software engineering is not only about technical solutions. To a large extent, it is also concerned with organizational issues, project management, and human behavior. There are serious gender issues that can severely limit the participation of women in science and engineering careers. It is claimed that women lead differently than men and are more collaboration-oriented, communicative, and less aggressive than their male counterparts. However, when talking with women in technology companies' leadership roles, a list of problems women face grows fast. We invite women in software engineering management roles to answer the questions from an empathy map canvas. We used thematic analysis for coding the answers and group the codes into themes. From the analysis, we identified seven themes that support us to list the main challenges they face in their careers.