How many women work in your IT department? Are there any female members in the team at all? If the answer to this question is no, you are not alone. Despite offering great career opportunities, IT remains a male dominated world and the industry isn’t making any rapid improvements. The number of women entering the profession has in fact dropped and at the moment only 19% of the UK IT workforce is female.[1]
Is that because there are few women studying computing subjects? No, many do but they don’t pursue technology careers, often being put-off by the lack of fellow women or the stereotype that IT is a man’s world. Is it because companies don’t want to hire women? No, that’s not the case either. Many organisations see the benefits of female talent but they struggle to find the women they need. A recent survey[2] confirmed this and said that although 59% of businesses said women performed better at interviews, almost the same amount said that fewer women secure the top jobs because there simply aren’t enough female candidates.
There are many efforts to improve this situation – the Equalities Act is scheduled to be upon us in the autumn, and a number of organisations, including ours are hard on the campaign tril to raise awareness of the problem. But there is still work to do! So what are the benefits of female talent and why is it so hard to find?
Case for diversity
It’s a generalisation but on the whole women tend to possess the softer skills, like strong communication skills, that men often do not which are valuable when it comes to business success. A more diverse team also means a wider range of ideas and that you have a team which more accurately reflects an organisation’s customer and client base, enabling more understanding, better negotiations and increased productivity. Research from McKinsey[3], the strategy consultancy, suggests that promoting women has its financial advantages too - European organisations with the highest proportion of women in influential leadership roles showed a better than average financial performance.
There is also the argument that the more women that enter the field, the more visible they will be and the more women there will be in influential, senior positions. This will subsequently provide more female role models, help eradicate the conception that you have to ‘call the IT guys’ if you have a technical problem and encourage a more balanced workforce which is more supportive of both male and female talent. With the baby boom generation nearing retirement and a lack of new talent entering the IT sector, there is a threat of a severe talent shortage encompassing the industry in the not so distant future. Women form a large and often untapped source of talent that the IT sector needs to take advantage of if it wants to remain competitive.
Where did all the women go?
So where are all the women? Skilled and experienced women continue to leave IT due to maternity leave and family commitments. This trend is obviously not exclusive to technology but has a significant impact in this particular sector with there being so few women there to start with. This is where opportunities, training and support for ‘returners to work’ is crucial to allow women with family responsibilities to work flexibly and also to give them the confidence and technical refresher skills they need to go back into the workplace. Many companies will already be flexible if they find the right candidate and this is something we need to promote more. In terms of legislation, paternity leave is also something that keeps many women out of the workplace – at the moment the UK’s parental leave arrangements are the most unequal in Europe. This is changing in 2011 but research by YouGov[4] and Orange[5] shows that less than a fifth of men will take advantage of the extended paternity leave, indicating that attitudes need to change along with the legislation.
In terms of senior level roles, this is where women are in exceedingly short supply. Partly this is due to the reasons above but it’s also partly down to the fact that men are generally better at ‘selling themselves’ than women. I was recently speaking to a female candidate who told me that she only applied for a job because her husband convinced her to. She wasn’t going to put herself forward for the role because she didn’t tick every box of the job description; her husband said ‘Why not? I would if it was me’ and I think this difference is a common one. In the same way we have seen examples of women not having the confidence to go for top positions. In one instance a senior role was advertised, with a high salary to go with it; hardly any women applied. The job was advertised again with the same description but a lower salary – it was only then that women started to apply. They all had the necessary skills and could have commanded the higher salary but it seems they didn’t think they were good enough to be earning so much.
Potential solutions
Organisations can look at using diversity suppliers who help increase the flow of female candidates without any discriminatory practice. It also helps to have more women involved in the recruitment decision making process to ensure a range of opinions are given and that people don’t fall into the trap of hiring in their own image. Networking groups and internal schemes for women can also help attract female talent to your organisation and retain it once it’s there.
As the recovery gets further underway and business picks up, companies and the UK as a whole will need to make sure they have the very best talent to remain competitive. Women need to be an integral part of that talent. Laws are changing and women are learning how to boost their careers for themselves but organisations also have a vital role to play by doing all they can to promote a diverse and supportive workforce.
[1] This is based on Intellects research which suggests that women’s representation within ITEC occupations is 19%. The report published in February 2010 is Women in ITECInternational Comparative Research Phase One. www.intellectuk.org
[2] See: http://www.fmwf.com/media-type/news/2010/03/women-perform-better-at-interview-say-british-bosses/
[3] http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/paris/home/womenmatter/pdfs/Women_matter_oct2007_english.pdf
[4] http://www.today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Flagship-PaternityLeave-05.03_0.pdf
[5] http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/03/17/less-than-one-in-five-male-workers-would-take-all-proposed-paternity-leave/