Is Workplace Equity Just Lip Service?

Despite decades of advancements toward workplace equality, women are still underrepresented in the tech industry. Part of that change requires the Telecom/IT sector provide a friendly and inclusive atmosphere to all employees. While the stats may be a bit dated, the principles still prove true. This article on empowering women in technology (by Jennifer Gregory) is a must read: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/the-empowering-guide-for-women-in-tech/ -- Joanna Webb

Joanna Webb is a researcher and consultant. She has more than 6 years of experience in organizational development. For more information, please email [email protected].

In the last couple of decades, the world has made huge strides when it comes to women involvement in the workforce. According to a report by Catalyst, women make up nearly half (46.9%) of the total workforce.

Despite all the progress that has been made by women, things do not look so rosy when it comes to the tech industry. For decades, careers in the tech industry and other STEM fields have not been so welcoming to women.  There is a huge gender gap between men and women in the STEM fields. This gap manifests itself through various aspects, including employment opportunities, wages, leadership opportunities, perception at the workplace, and so on.

In this article, we look at some of the latest stats to give us a better picture of the state of affairs for women in tech today.

WOMEN HOLD ONLY A QUARTER OF ALL TECH JOBS

Ever wondered how many women work in the tech industry?

According to Adeva IT, as of 2018, women held only 25% of all the jobs in the tech industry, despite women making up almost half of the total workforce. What’s worse, this number is lower than the percentage of tech jobs held by women back in the 1980s.

GIRLS ARE LESS LIKELY TO STUDY STEM SUBJECTS

One of the reasons why there is a lower percentage of women working in the tech industry compared to other industries is that girls are less likely to study STEM subjects compared to boys. According to a Women In Tech report by PWC, among the students participating in the research, more boys opted for STEM subjects compared to girls, except for biology. This is true both in high school and in university.

• According to the research, 83% of boys in high school opt for STEM subjects, while only 64% of girls opt for STEM subjects.
• The report also found that 17% of boys study physics, compared to just 7% of girls.
• The same gender disparity is evident at the university, where 52% of males take STEM related courses, in contrast to only 30% of females.
• The gap is even bigger when it comes to courses like engineering. 13% of the surveyed male university students were taking engineering courses, compared to just 2% of female university students.

There are a number of reasons why girls are less likely to study STEM subjects compared to boys.

• According to the report, some girls avoid STEM subjects because they feel that they are better in humanities and other essay based subjects.
• Others avoid STEM subjects because they do not find them interesting.
• Some girls also avoid STEM subjects because they don’t consider them to be relevant to the career paths they intend to choose.
• Other reasons include the need to get the highest grades they can to increase their chances of university placement (STEM subjects are considered to be harder) and teachers making STEM subjects appear unappealing.

The report also found that the intended career choice has varying influence on choice of A-Level subjects between boys and girls. 53% of girls choose their A-Level subjects based on their preferred career, compared to just 43% of boys.

This means that while girls are more likely to think ahead when choosing their A-Level subjects, a significant number of them avoid STEM subjects because they don’t see themselves following a career in technology.

MORE THAN TWO THIRDS OF FEMALES DO NOT CONSIDER A CAREER IN TECH

The gender disparity that starts in high school and university becomes even more pronounced when it comes to making career choices.

• The research by PWC reports that of all the female respondents, only 27% said that they would consider a tech career.
• This is in contrast to 62% of males. In addition, only 3% of females would opt for a tech career as their first choice, in contrast to 15% of males.

There are a number of reasons why females are less likely to consider a career in tech.

• First, many females do not consider a tech career because it is not being put forward as one of the options they can take.
• Whereas 33% of male respondents reported that they had someone suggest a tech career to them, only 16% of females reported to have received similar suggestion.
• The fact that careers in tech are not suggested to females helps to further the stereotype that the tech industry is a man’s world.
• In addition, many females are less likely to consider a career in tech because they don’t have enough information about what working in the technology industry entails.

Another reason why females are less likely to consider a career in the tech industry is that there are not enough female role models within the industry. When asked to name someone they would like to emulate in their future careers, 34% of the respondents had no trouble naming a successful person in the industry they were interested in. Most importantly, there wasn’t any significant disparity in the genders of the named personalities.

• Yet when the respondents were asked to name someone that inspired them to follow a career in the tech industry, 83% of female respondents were unable to name someone.
• In contrast, only 59% of male respondents were unable to name someone.
• In addition, when the respondents, both male and female, were asked to name a famous man in the tech industry, 66% were able to do it.
• However, when the question was flipped and they were asked to name a famous woman in the tech industry, only 22% could do it.

This shortage of female role models in the tech industry also helps to reinforce the perception that careers in the tech industry are generally not for women.

Women have actually been the brains behind some of the biggest achievements within the industry. Unfortunately, their contributions have gone unrecognized in most cases. In some cases, men have even taken credit for the achievements of women.

For instance, the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) – the world’s first electric computer, which was used during The Second World War – was programmed by six women. However, these women were given no credit for their work, despite the fact that ENIAC couldn’t have worked without their contribution. Instead, they were only referred to in photos as "models." They weren’t even considered important enough to be invited to the ENIAC project’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Such cases of the efforts of women in the tech industry going unrecognized have led to the perception that women have not made any significant contributions, hence the lack of female role models.

Additional highlights from the report include:

• WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO QUIT TECH INDUSTRY JOBS
• EQUALITY DECREASES WITH RISE IN SENIORITY

According to a report by Entelo, there are about 19% of women in entry level and mid-level roles in the tech industry. At the senior level, however, women hold only 16% of positions. As you go even higher, this number drops even lower, with women holding just 10% of executive level positions.

A survey conducted by HackerRank found that 20.4% of women over the age of 35 in the tech sector remain in junior level positions, in contrast to just 5.9% of men over the age of 35. Actually, the survey found that women are more likely than men to hold junior level positions in the tech industry, regardless of their age.