Women in IT Research from 2004 to 2006

This is the final report of the study launched by the European Commission, Information Society and Media Directorate G, Components and Systems on Best practices for Even Gender Distribution in the 25 MS in the domain of Information society Technologies.

The objective of this study on best practices of even gender distribution in Europe 25 is to foster the participation of women in the ICT domain and to provide relevant input for further European policy developments and their implementation in the area. This has been done by identifying, selecting and analysing different best practices cases in major public and private European ICT organisations.

Existing statistics demonstrate the low participation of women in the ICT sector, and particularly in decision making roles. It is precisely for this reason that the study gives a overview of some of the best European strategies and measures in the area of gender equality in ICT with the expectation that they will be transferred and applied to other organisations and companies with the same constructive and positive commitment.

This report forms part of a larger research project seeking to investigate female representation within the ITEC (IT and Electronics) labour market and has been drawn up on behalf of Intellect and the Department for Trade and Industry with the aim of:

• Giving a better understanding of the UK’s ITEC labour market and in particular, trends in female participation within ITEC occupations.
• Establishing whether the currently low levels of female participation within ITEC jobs is a phenomenon local to the UK or a more global issue faced by other countries within/outside the EU.
• Potentially highlighting countries with higher levels of female participation in the ITEC workforce that may then feature as case studies within a subsequent research exercise tasked to identify “effective policies for increasing women’s participation in the IT sector”.

This is the report of a project entitled “Widening of Employment Opportunities in ITEC: Professional Advancement through ITEC Skills”. The purpose of the project has been to identify employment areas outside the traditional IT sector where demand for IT skills is increasing, and to highlight the possibilities for new types of careers for women, including those returning to the labour market following a career break. The project examined case studies of newly-emerging occupations with the aim of investigating whether there is in these occupations a positive employment culture with career development opportunities for women. It is hoped that the results of this work will be used to encourage women to consider careers in different scientific and technical professions from those which they might normally be aware of.

The number of women in the IT industry is declining steadily. This statement is supported by official ONS Labour Force Survey figures, which show a decline, from 27% in 1997 to 21% in 2004. DTI and Intellect’s Women in IT Forum commissioned Exemplas Ltd to undertake primary and secondary research to help develop the business case for diversity and identify best practice strategies for retaining women in IT professions.

This research was broken down into two phases: Phase 1 focused on the business case for diversity and resulted in a report entitled ‘Women in the IT Industry: Towards a Business Case for Diversity’. Phase 2 was to concentrate specifically on why women are leaving the IT Industry and what they believe should be done to encourage women to stay.

This research focused particularly on women aged over 45 and women in more senior roles as both of these groups are currently under researched. The objective of this research project was to make direct contact with representatives of these two groups of women and to seek to establish the specific reasons why they have left or are contemplating leaving the industry and to ask what might have changed their minds and persuaded them to stay.

One of DTI’s strategic priorities is to maximise potential in the workplace, helping to create organisations with high productivity, value and skills. DTI want to raise skill levels to produce high value jobs in high performance workplaces, where people can realise their full potential whilst maintaining a healthy work-life balance. As part of this drive, DTI will encourage business to make better use of innovative working practices, modern management techniques and good leadership, working in partnership with employees and their representatives. DTI will also promote diversity, fair treatment and work-life balance as routes to raising levels of participation and improving employee motivation and creativity, so raising productivity.

This report has been supported by DTI and is part of its ongoing strategy to address the issues mentioned above. DTI are continuing to work with employers, as well as employees, to understand diversity issues as well as identifying the reasons for the severe under representation of women in the IT sector.

As the number of women in IT and IT related jobs remains disappointingly low, both in recruitment and retention, we need to understand why that is, and once understood look for ways to address the issues.

Are you a woman returning from a career break and looking to change paths into a more ITEC based job or to return to work in the ITEC sector itself? Do you think you have the balance of skills that ITEC jobs need? If so, you will find yourself in high demand. Apart from the really technical roles, working in the ITEC sector is to a certain degree all about people. As a woman returner or career changer with past working/studying experience you will more than likely have a wide range of ‘people skills’ which employers are looking for.

Employers are particularly interested in people with problem solving skills, who are strong communicators and have the ability to work in teams. In addition to possessing technical skills an ‘ideal candidate’ will possess good communication and team working skills as well as being able to be flexible and adaptive to change. Research shows that women consistently score higher in these abilities than men. If you are looking for a career that provides opportunities for career and self development coupled with financial reward then why not consider ITEC as your next move?

One of DTI’s strategic priorities is to maximise potential in the workplace, helping to create organisations with high productivity, value and skills. We want to raise skill levels to produce high value jobs in high performance workplaces, where people can realise their full potential whilst maintaining a healthy work-life balance. As part of this drive, we will encourage business to make better use of innovative working practices, modern management techniques and good leadership, working in partnership with employees and their representatives. We will also promote diversity, fair treatment and work-life balance as routes to raising levels of participation and improving employee motivation and creativity, so raising productivity.

DTI has supported the preparation of his report with these goals in mind. In particular, working in partnership with employers and employees, we want to understand and address the severe under-representation of women in the IT sector. Work-life balance and flexible working benefit men and women but the more widespread adoption by businesses of flexible working practices could particularly support women to enter and remain in IT.

We hope the dissemination of the results of this survey of IT workers stimulates greater debate about the drivers and inhibitors to flexible working in the sector and ultimately to more businesses introducing effective working practices into their organisations.