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Thursday 9th February 2012

Women working in technology – what can you do?

womenintechnology.co.uk White Paper
March 2009

Introduction
It is probably no great surprise to you that there is a lack of women within the IT profession. When told to imagine the typical ‘techie’ most people tend to have a person in mind, and it’s not usually female. This is a problem that is not disappearing – in fact fewer women are pursuing careers in the IT space and the amount of female talent leaving the sector is growing. There are many reasons why increasing the number of women in technology is vital – it not only improves a team’s dynamic but research has shown that it can also have financial benefits too.

However we don’t want to elaborate too much on that as your interest in womenintechnology’s recruitment service shows that your organisation is already committed to finding solutions and recruiting more female talent. The important question is: what else can businesses like yours do to attract and retain female talent in IT and give the industry the boost in diversity that it needs?
This white paper will detail a range of statistics and quotes from around 1,000 female technologists surveyed by womenintechnology.co.uk, which highlight some obstacles that a number of women in IT currently face and also what they feel are the most important issues for them in the workplace today.

This unique insight into the thoughts of female IT professionals provides many ideas as to how businesses can help improve the gender imbalance. Although some suggestions are easier to implement and see through than others, all raise interesting points and give us some food for thought.

Support

  • 64% were not offered a women’s support network by their employer; but of those that were, half used it
  • Around a third were not offered remote working; but of those that were 66% took advantage of it
  • 88% responded that having a mentor is important
  • 69% said that their boss was ‘very important’ to their career progression
  • “In a large organisation, the law of the employer does not necessarily equal the law of the team, department or manager.”


These responses show that having the infrastructure and people to support women through their technology careers is of great importance. Female groups and networks are becoming increasingly widespread in companies and IT departments as they are a simple but effective way for women to feel more supported and help to encourage more women into the industry. One such example is IT support company Connect, which has established a group called ‘Google Girls’ that organises regular events and mentoring for its female IT engineers.

Remote working proved popular among the female technologists, however many were not given this option in their current role. With so many women having family responsibilities, being flexible and offering working practices like this could significantly reduce the number of women permanently leaving the IT workforce due to its demanding time commitments. Although recent surveys show that many employers are not keen on their employees working from home, this set up could prove more productive in the long run when taking commuting time and childcare emergencies into consideration.

Line managers and bosses emerged as the most important figures to female technologists. This highlights the value of strong leadership and the need for the whole management team to be equally committed to diversity and encouraging women into top positions. As one respondent pointed out, schemes and ideas mean little if the people within an organisation do not make them reality.

Maternity

  • ‘I’ve got two kids and was just 12 weeks not working. But the nine months before, and even 12 months after the birth, my company showed no interest in me and I got only the jobs no other wanted. It took me three years to show that I’m still ‘in the game’.’
  • 88% agreed that more should be done to encourage women to return to their technology careers after maternity
  • 'The biggest problem is the speed with which technical knowledge becomes obsolete. There is no other profession which is so unforgiving of a career break.’
  • ‘After two very short maternity leaves I was warned by my boss that another baby and I would lose my job.’
  • ‘When I came back from maternity leave they saw me as a mum and made me feel guilty for being at work. I overheard a colleague say that I was stopping a man from having a good job.’


Obviously not every woman we surveyed had negative experiences of treatment surrounding maternity leave but these comments show that there were several that did and therefore there is still room for improvement. Family responsibilities are a major factor in the decision of many women to leave the IT sector and there are many women who would perhaps like to return but do not feel able to do so. Because of the fast moving pace of IT, retraining for female returners is a great way of restoring confidence to the many women who feel that their knowledge is out of date – and the vast majority of our female technologists agreed that more should be done in this area. There were also many comments saying that their responsibilities and chances of promotion were diminished due to motherhood. More training for returners, more flexibility for both mothers and fathers and a higher level of support for women in this position would aid greatly in retaining female talent.

Women in management

  • ‘A company with a high percentage of women, but very few of them in management positions, would attract me less than one with few women spread throughout the organisation.’
  • 68% of respondents had over five years’ experience but of those, half had not reached a middle management position 
  • ‘To increase the number of women working in technology, have more women in management as role models. A lack of women in these roles is far too apparent.’
  • ‘If I want to progress, I would have to take on a managerial role. But I don’t feel that I would have the right kind of qualities required – I don’t know how to develop them.’
  • ‘From my 20+ years’ experience working in IT, I have found that most IT bosses are men who tend to promote in their image. Women don’t fit this, they tend to talk and act differently - they don’t use jargon and aren’t as confrontational. This confuses male bosses, it is simpler for them to promote men as they relate to them more easily. Women are subject to comments such as ‘but does she know what she’s talking about?’ whereas mean are assumed to know.’


As well as the lack of women working in IT, there is a severe shortage of women in senior IT positions. Not only does this mean that women are less visible in the industry and there are fewer female technologists as role models; it also means that there are fewer women involved in pushing the issue of diversity to the forefront of their organisation’s agenda. Encouraging women to push their careers to the next level and giving them the opportunity to do so is vital. With fewer women in the ranks it is only expected that there will be fewer women at the top of the ladder but this is something that can make a big difference to attracting female talent.
When the new Equality Bill is introduced, positive action will be possible for the first time in the UK – this will give businesses the opportunity to really make a difference and boost the number of women recruited into top technology positions.

The stereotype

  • 41% said being a woman has been detrimental to their career in technology
  • 'It is a struggle to be taken seriously as a competent engineer no matter what experience or qualifications are offered. It is presumed my interest is general and not technical.’
  • ‘Guys with much less experience that me get granted projects and are consulted much more. I need to demonstrate something a thousand times before I am taken into account.’
  • ‘Educate men about the skills women bring to an organisation or team.’
  • 'I seem to be judged more harshly than my male colleagues – what would be fabulous people skills in a man seemed to be considered as ‘only to be expected, nothing special’ in a woman.’


It’s going to take a while to change what is still a relatively male dominated culture in IT. Although many respondents said that being a woman in a male environment did mean they stood out and were remembered, others commented that it was difficult to be taken seriously and that they had to work harder for recognition than their male counterparts. We know that not all women face this treatment, but it is still widespread and something that needs to be tackled. This is an issue which is more difficult to overcome however as changing cultures and opinions is not something that can be done overnight. The key issue here is making sure your organisation and everyone within it works to fight the ‘IT guys’ stereotype and the assumption that all women are in administrative
roles and do not understand technical issues. Simply employing more women will be a step in the right direction to help remedy this problem by altering the internal culture and raising awareness of the skills and value that women bring to an IT team.

What else?
We have outlined a range of issues that women working in technology face today as well as a series of suggestions which can help attract and retain more female talent and help to improve working life for them. It is a complex problem with no easy solution but through the work of organisations like womenintechnology.co.uk and businesses like your own who are committed to increasing diversity, we are slowly making a difference. To conclude, we will leave you with a few more thoughts from our female technologists about who could support women in technology and how:

  • ‘People at the top; have a diverse management structure and make sure you’re actively seeking and promoting women.’
  • ‘Technology firms should do more to fund organisations actively working to educate young girls on the benefits of a career in technology.’
  • ‘I think that quota based hiring policies, whilst a very direct and unpopular solution, may be the only way to increase the number of women working in technology.’
  • ‘Lobby the government to ensure they don’t put off legislation that would allow transfer of the second six months of maternity leave to the father. We won’t have the same chances until men start taking time off for family too.’
  •  ‘It can be very useful if companies provide a big brush up training course to bring confidence to women.’
  • ‘A better image in the media’


If you would like to find out more about our recruitment services, please contact Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology on 020 7422 9214 or at mberry@womenin.co.uk.