Masculinist gender regime is the regular, patterned gender arrangements. The Regime includes patterned discrepancies in rewards and privileges connected to gender. Masculinist gender regimes, dictate almost every aspect of workplace culture and workplace interaction in IT firms. The composition of young, white, educated males definitely creates a certain youthful and playful culture in an IT firm. In “Age, Gender and Work”, McMullin suggests that most IT firms have workplace cultures “geared towards male interests and activities.” (McMullin 2012, 40). In these male dominant firms, co-workers relate with each other informally and often share common practices, traditions, attitudes and values. The workplace culture, created by the predominant presence of younger men tends to have an effect on how many women, if any, are employed in an IT firm. The women employed by these firms, are forced to adapt to the culture of the workplace, “Where individual women occupy key managerial or technical roles, they accommodated, rather than challenged, the dominant ethos, positioning themselves as “one of the boys.” (McMullin 2012, 40).
The composition of predominantly younger males in IT firms, also contribute to ageism in the workplace. Younger male employees, often view older workers as incompetent, and not adaptable in regards to dealing with technology. Younger employees also believe that because they grew up with computers, knowledge about utilizing a computer comes more naturally