Increasing the Number of Women in IT
Story by Amelia Matheson, Artwork by Mallika Sunder.
“Calling all technical people! If you are a technical person, we want you!”
But what does it mean to be “technical”? Being “technical” means that one knows how to write code. With many tech start-ups and existing big-name companies offering more computing-related jobs every year, the world is in need of these technical people. Despite more job opportunities, gender and racial disparities have become much more apparent in IT as the industry expands.
Black women, for example, hold only 3% of computing jobs according to Sarah White of CIO Magazine and women make up just 18% of the IT industry. Why is this the status quo considering the fact that STEM and IT are some of the fastest growing industries in the entire world? Well, the issue is much more complex than just hiring disparities. Many factors including delayed education, low job retention, and workplace discrimination account for the low number of women in IT. It is the duty of professionals already in the field as well as new minds to break down these barriers preventing women from participating in such a globally vital industry.
The root of the problem is delayed education. More than half of American high schools do not teach any computer science classes. In other schools, they may be offered only as STEM classes that are poorly advertised and taught off-campus. Subsequently, many students, especially students of minority groups, are not exposed to IT in an academic setting. We as a society cannot expect women to dive into IT if we don’t provide them with the opportunity and resources to get involved from an early age. School districts should demand the necessary government funding to teach coding to students as early as in middle school. That way, children have plenty of time to decide if an IT career is something they would like to pursue in the future, no matter their gender or race. This will also show young, impressionable female students that they belong in IT just as much as their male counterparts, effectively leveling the playing field for future generations.
Secondly, there exists a hiring disparity between the genders. Because there isn’t a great pool of potential female employees to pick from to begin with, companies often go the “simpler” route by choosing from the majority: white men. Despite there being qualified women looking for work, many of them even holding master’s degrees in computer science related fields, companies tend to look past them in favor of men. This is incredibly discouraging for women who simply want to put their knowledge to work at respectable companies. In addition, some of these women suffer from a lack of self-confidence. They feel unqualified for available positions because they are not getting hired, promoted, or praised for their work. This in turn produces a lack of representation for generations following these women.
To reverse this terrible trend, companies need to sincerely promote diversity in their workplaces. They need to actively seek out women of all races even when it means doing more digging. Another tool companies can have at their disposal is unconscious bias training. Since men make up a massive bulk of the industry, there exists the idea that women are inherently less qualified to hold computing-related jobs because they are women. It may not be verbally advertised this way, but this definitely is the message that the industry sends to women. To combat this, recruitment leaders and hiring directors should undergo implicit bias training, which dispels discrimination and fosters inclusion in the hiring process.
Yet another barrier women face is retaining any job they obtain in their field of choice. Sarah White goes on to report that “only 38% of women who majored in computer science are working in the field compared to 53% of men, according to data from the National Science Foundation.”
Workplace discrimination prevades almost all sectors of the economy and IT is no exception. In 2017, 74% of women said they experienced gender discrimination in computer-based workplaces. Discrimination and sexual harrassment disincentivizes women from remaining with a company. The solution lies in the superiors’ duty to believe female employees when they report cases of discrimination or harrassment and preventing these cases in the first place. Investigating these cases and punishing offenders not only promotes the overall safety of women in a company, but also improves the company’s standing in society which encourages even more women to work for said company. If all companies take these steps, women will feel more welcome in IT. They will finally feel like they belong.
Diversity in IT should take priority in this ever-changing world. A global pandemic has required us all to find totally new ways of doing things and this required totally new ideas. The IT industry is an industry that, pandemic or not, will always need new ideas, new minds, new people. Women are an invaluable asset to society and the economy. It is time that we give them the attention, support, and opportunities they deserve in IT.
Works Cited
Johnson, Sydney. “Less than Half of America's High Schools Teach Computer Science.” EdSource, EdSource, 11 Sept. 2019, edsource.org/reports/less-than-half-of-americas-high-schools-teach-computer-science.
White, Sarah K. “Women in Tech Statistics: The Hard Truths of an Uphill Battle.” CIO, CIO, 8 Mar. 2021, www.cio.com/article/3516012/women-in-tech-statistics-the-hard-truths-of-an-uphill-battle.html.
