A new study has revealed that the role of gender in the IT industry pay gap has still not been broken.

In research carried out by womenintechnology.co.uk, it was found that just under two-thirds of respondents to the online poll thought there was still a glass ceiling in the sector, with just over half believing they did not make the same amount of money as their male counterparts, IT Pro reported.

Another third stated that in their role in IT support, they do not want to take a career break or maternity leave as this could potentially sabotage their profession, which has been described as the "pressure to overachieve".

Despite this, many female workers in the IT industry are positive about their jobs, stating they enjoy working with the cutting edge of technology.

Earlier this week, it was announced that UK enterprises are cautious about spending more on IT after a study by IDC, although many will continue to spend just as much.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.