Why The Women In Tech Initiative Is So Important?
It's evident, everywhere you look, that women are under-represented in the tech industry. Not only that, but they're usually underpaid, often disregarded for promotions and faced with every day sexism. With a shocking statistic of less than 7% of tech jobs being held by women in Europe, it's easy to see why women are more likely to leave the industry within a year, compared to their male counterparts.
To truly uncover our present day problems when it comes to gender diversity in the workplace; we need to take a look at the lead up from earlier years.
During secondary education, girls achieve higher grades than boys. However, for females who do pursue computer science degrees, they find themselves being outnumbered by males “ 82% versus 17% “, one of the highest gender disparities in course subjects. And this imbalance hasn’t been helped by the continuous decrease of females taking up STEM courses.
A possible reason for why more girls don’t pursue maths and science related degrees is due to the ‘pinkification’ of girls in early age. Which we are all too familiar with (even more so if you have your own children). Toys, clothes and job possibilities are still marketed towards either gender, despite recent developments in breaking this historic trend. For example a ballet dancer, nurse and teacher can often be classified as a woman’s job. Versus a firefighter, accountant and electrician being more male-categorised.
This lack of women taking up tech-related degrees has a direct effect on the workforce, where at many tech companies, males form the overwhelming majority. This leads to women experiencing sexism and often feeling like they don’t belong. According to a survey by The Guardian, 73% of workers in the tech industry believe the industry is sexist. With news stories of sexism rife in the industry, it’s clear there is a work culture problem of ‘brogrammers’ that needs addressing.
There are some amazing non-profit organisations out there who are leading the way for women in tech; assisting in bridging the gender gap and helping women to embrace tech. Many of which I have come across during my time as a recruiter here at DigiTech, which I would love to give mention to.
It is extremely important for anyone, not only women, to have a sense of belonging, a strong community behind them and all of the love, support and encouragement they could ever need. These organisations listed below work together as one BIG global movement to boost women in technology.
European Centre for Women and Technology (ECWT)
What is your company doing for Women In Tech? How do you feel as a Woman in Tech?
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