Where Are All the Women in the IT Industry?

By Alice Murray

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IT and technology is fast becoming the World’s top industry, and jobs within these sectors are filling up more than ever. But the golden question is; where are all the women?

Recent studies have proved that a mere 30% of the tech industry is made up of women – which includes anyone working in marketing and HR.

This is a pretty staggering figure considering we’re now in the modern and equal-rights era of 2016; but it gets even more shocking the deeper you delve into the facts.

Only 17% of Google’s tech employees are women; and other infamous corporations follow this suit. 15% of Facebook’s staffing body are women, and only 10% of Twitter’s tech workers are women. In fact, out of the top 100 technology companies that currently operate all over the globe; only 14% of the board seats are sat in by women.

These are just the major international companies; so the numbers undoubtedly become even fewer in smaller tech businesses. Even in contracting, it's not rare for roles to be male-dominated.

But who is to blame for this? Is anyone actually at fault for these very real statistics?

The truth is, it could just be our generic outlook of society as a whole that puts a heavy impact on how this has worked out.

It’s a tough reality for women who are already in the industry, and for women who are wanting to break into it; but IT is generally perceived as a masculine business to be a part of. Unfortunately, having a career in IT or technology as a woman is unusual – but it’s nothing to do with women being capable enough.

Women are more than qualified for these types of roles; and the numbers of females studying engineering, science, IT and technology at University have increased rapidly over the years. The problem is, there aren’t enough women applying for the jobs once they’ve achieved their degree.

It isn’t necessarily the fault of the employer either. Some companies have even put strategies in place in an attempt to attract more women to the field. But for a combination of reasons, the statistics just aren’t improving at the rate we all would like them to.

Why would educated, professional women exit an industry that – on average - has some of the highest starting salaries out there?

Some women claim that they're bailing on tech companies because of the lack of family-friendly flexibility, lower salaries compared with their male colleagues and fewer opportunities for advancement.

But it could be to do with the fact that a lot of people’s view of the tech industry is a chauvinistic one. When you think of programmers or developers or analysts, you tend to envisage a group of quiet young men in glasses who dress like hipsters and spend their entire day wired into a laptop in a dark room.

Whilst this is far from reality, it is all part of the ‘geek culture’ that we emerge ourselves in; and cultural messages like this will inevitably deter women from wanting to go near it. Attitudes and outlooks such as this can easily make women feel excluded and as though they simply don’t belong there. It’s also no secret that there are still a whole range of jobs that women are not welcomed into because they are not seen as experts or influencers.

So how do we turn it around?

Thankfully, this doesn’t seem to be a situation that everyone is ignorant of. Organisations such as Diversity Incorporated, are tackling the situation by offering businesses improved education and training for their employees.

They work day after day to challenge the negative stereotypes, as they plan to put women back in the race once and for all; and it’s not all doom and gloom. The women who are already held in high regard within the industry are the champions that those wanting to conquer it can model themselves after.

Some argue that the way to fix things is to make tech more glamorous and desirable for women so that they are more attracted to these careers.

But the stereotypes can only be broken when everyone within the technology sector agrees to work together to build a better and more balanced future.

In the meantime, women who want to get into an IT job should network more, apply for more jobs out of their usual comfort zone, and demand the credit that they deserve.

 

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