Number of female tech workers barely increases in a decade

The number of women working in the technology sector has barely increased in a decade, new figures have shown.
TechTech
Tech

Research released today has shown that the per centage of female tech workers has increased by just 1.8 per cent since 2007, with just 15.4 per cent of the nation’s technology workforce being women.

Many large tech operators have been examining ways to make their workforces more diverse but on the evidence of the new research it would seem there is still a long way to go to levelling the playing field.

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Focusing on key roles within the ICT and technology sector, Search Consultancy discovered there has been little movement in the number of women occupying the positions.

Among its findings were that in 2007, only nine per cent of managerial and leadership positions were obtained by women. For 2017, the figure stands at just 14.8 per cent.

Other key figures showed 10 per cent of all developer roles went to women in 2007, a figure that has climbed just 4.8 per cent in 10 years to 14.8 per cent today.

More worrying is the fact that, on the face of Search’s evidence, the number of female engineers has decreased since 2007.

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A decade ago the figure stood at a 20 per cent but this has since declined markedly to a mere 5.8 per cent.

Amidst what is a decidedly depressing set of figures, there is some cause for optimism.

Year-on-year comparisons across the same period from 2016 to 2017 saw an increase in female appointments into director roles.

Indeed, nearly a quarter of directors were women, a healthy jump from zero in 2016.

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Sheila Flavell, boss of IT professional services group FDM Group which trains young people in areas like programming and which has a large presence in Leeds, said the figures were cause for concern.

She said: “We need more young women and returners to come into tech and enjoy the incredible opportunities that a career in tech offers. Women are consumers of technology, they need to also be part of creating it.

“At FDM Group, we work very hard to encourage women into the sector. Twenty six per cent of our employees and 50 per cent of our senior management team are women.

“We’ve achieved this through our commitment to creating a company culture that embraces diversity.”

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The issue of gender in technology has been particularly controversial this year following the decision of search engine Google to fire one of its employees James Damore over the summer.

Mr Damore, a programmer, penned a lengthy memo to staff criticising the tech giant’s efforts to make its workforce more diverse, citing scientific studies suggesting why women were less inclined to work in sectors like tech.

Despite coming up with many suggestions as to how these barriers could be overcome a backlash developed and Mr Damore was ultimately fired, a move he is disputing legally.

The affair took the debate over women in tech into mainstream media.

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Donna Turner, Director of IT Recruitment in Scotland reflected on the findings, “It’s clear from the research there is still much work to do in creating some gender balance within the IT sector. Search has always had an unwavering commitment to gender equality in all workplaces, and though progress is slow, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that, for the most part, the female presence in IT is growing.

She continued, “We have to accept that, for whatever reason, it is predominantly men who are attracted to the IT sector, and that is reflected in the data.

“It is incumbent on schools and businesses to do more to make the sector a more attractive option for women. In the meantime, we will continue to do everything we can to help realise the ambitions of those women who are clear that IT is where they see their future.”