wIThout Women: why are women no longer pursuing careers in IT?

“Information Technology (IT) is concerned with technology to treat information. The acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications are its main fields”. The Dictionary of Information Technology (2012).

Technological development is moving an ever increasingly velocity, globally. In Australia, the NBN project is just one example of the huge investment Australia is making in the future of technology.

The industrial economy is now a bygone era; making way for the Creative Industries. The Creative Industries encompass fields such as:

• Music and Performing Arts
• Film, TV, Radio
• Advertising and marketing
• Software, Web and multimedia development
• Writing, publishing, print media
• Architecture, design and visual arts

With technology playing a vital role in each sector. A wealth of opportunity has been created, along with a diverse selection of options – why is it that more and more women are shying away from or out of technical careers?

Is it because women are being segregated due to subtle gender inequality cues across a broad spectrum of artifacts surrounding the information technology industry?

Women in business offer diversity, new perspectives and constitute more than half of the marketplace. They offer a different ‘code’ of conduct, and are fundamental in moving global organisations forward in the workforce. Given the increasing importance of technology for the future of the human race, it is essential that these imbalances are addressed sooner rather than later.

KEY ISSUES

Women generally face a number of obstacles when it comes to the workforce, according to Tharenou (1998), it was found that women have to consistently:

• Work harder
• Exceed performance expectations
• Have more experience
• Over-perform to counter negative assumptions
• Women in higher management superior to male counterparts

For women to succeed, they must:

• Exceed performance expectations
• Seek out difficult or visible job assignments in early career
• Develop a management style comfortable to male managers
• Get support from influential mentors and colleagues

The additional industry specific issues combined with more generalised issues as stated above, are all contributing to the declining numbers of women selecting in IT.

For the purpose of this project, only three key issues have been selected in order to review and recommend solutions. These are –

1. The image of the IT industry – deterring women from joining
2. Selection and Interview process: They don’t get in the door of IT firms, Self select out from job ad, Fail at interviews
3. Women are unsupported in the industry – weak networks and poor access to industry leaders

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, STATISTICS 

Qualitative Research

The qualitative research was conducted within global IT Software Consultancy, ThoughtWorks. Further information regarding the company can be found here.

A brief session was conducted with female employees of ThoughtWorks Australia. Participants were asked to honestly approach and answer three segments, with the objective to gain an insight into three key area’s: what the company could uniquely offer them, what would deter them from joining, what would grab a participants’ attention (from the perspective of an IT company reaching out to them).

What can ThoughtWorks uniquely offer me?

Figure 1

• Easy to relocate (domestically, internationally)
• Paid maternity leave/maternity benefits – overall the women feel that just being a considerate company is a huge deal
• Work part-time on interesting projects – not just be ‘thrown’ on whatever project will accept them part-time
• Be able to set my career path, carve my own opportunities – this seemed to have been the main theme from this question

What would put me off joining ThoughtWorks?

Figure 2

• Not many women consultants with young kids. (maybe more of an observation than an actual deterrent?)
• Salary
• Not having the possibility to work part-time
• No females in senior (technical) group or leadership roles
• Overtime/working long hours/expectations
• Intense and unique culture (like a cult?)
• Project based work eg. “don’t always get to work on the technology I’m interested in”

Most of the points listed here are fairly common; the stand out comment however is around the ‘unique culture’ or ‘like a cult’, This comment truly highlights the importance of how an organisation presents itself via it’s culture, and how this is interpreted or ‘felt’ by women encountering the organisation. According to notable social psychologist Edgar Schein’s cultural theory (1999), artifacts include any tangible, overt or verbally identifiable elements in an organization. Architecture, furniture, dress code, office jokes, all exemplify organizational artifacts. The second tier in the theory relates to espoused values, or the strategies, goals or philosophies that shape the direction of the company. Finally, Basic Underlying Assumptions or the underlying feelings, thoughts, beliefs or  perceptions prevalent in an organisations culture.

What would make me sit up and listen?

Figure 3

• Industry leaders
• Cutting edge/innovative work
• Access to industry leaders (Martin Fowler etc)
• Variety – not put in a box
• Social Impact projects (UNICEF)
• Travel options
• The ThoughtWorks Story
• Employer of Choice for Women
• Global network
• Community (lunches, team get togethers, intranet forum, etc)
• The People
• The company culture

There were lots of ideas presented as to how a company could support women – and not all of them were women-specific. Many of them are evidently interested in what they set out to do – be technical, and enjoy easy access to their passion through the company (ie. access to industry leaders). There was also a strong theme around networking, socialising and opportunity to communicate – in line with Tannen’s Genderlect theory (1990) – women use communication to establish connections with others, whereas men use communication to establish or maintain power over others.

Industry Spokesperson Interview

Interview with Maggie Berry, Managing Director – Women in Technology, UK

Sarah Howe March 16, 2012

[SH] The declining number of women pursuing careers in IT isn’t a new thing. In your view, what do you believe is the biggest failings of companies at this point in time?

[MB] “One area we could really do with fixing is returners to work [mothers] – the only idea companies have in the diversity space is to hire graduates, and I think – why don’t they hire returners to work? These women are already skilled business people, they just need a ‘refresher’ back into the workforce. I really think companies could achieve a lot from these types of programs. The next step from that is perhaps hiring them back on a six month contract and keeping things open – have they flourished, or is coming back to work not really what they wanted? A technology firm that could crack that, would win hands down. The fact is – women have so much experience, and we just let that walk away. And then we worry that there’s not enough women in technology. Other contributors of women leaving is that companies don’t give them the flexibility they need – forcing women to either take a step back from the workforce, or work for themselves”.

[SH] Aside from returners to work, do you believe anything is a barrier to entry for women?

[MB] “Other factors – we self select out advertised jobs. If there are 10 bullet points on the job guys won’t think twice when applying, where as if there is one thing on there that women can’t do, they self select out. We also see a high number of women drop out of interview days – are they scared? Did they say yes and mean no? Are we not as confident?”

[SH] Some of my research on this topic has lead me to believe that a traditional selection and interview process may not always be appropriate for women, what do you make of that?

[MB] “Face to face networking events work really well for women, as they have the opportunity to build rapport and use body language cues to communicate their message. Interestingly, we typically have a higher number of women drop out of our interview days than men – perhaps you’re onto something”. 

[SH] What do you believe there are some of the external factors contributing to women leaving the IT industry?

[MB] “If you work in a really male dominated environment – it’s not often one big event, say an act of harassment – it is just that they women have been gradually worn down by little comments – like a constant finger poking at you. Deeply technical people sometimes don’t have the people skills to relate to their colleagues so well, and this especially effects women. 

[SH] What changes do you believe need to take place in order for women to consider IT again?

[MB] “You can’t magic more experience or women into the industry – you have to have a pipeline coming through from the next generation and encourage them into IT. There needs to be some sustained effort from IT companies as a whole. There is a piece around companies keeping the staff they’ve got – ask the women we’ve got, ‘why are you here'”?

Recruitment and Selection

Unfortunately, information on recruitment and selection that is purely Australia-focused is limited and inconclusive. Drawing from analysis conducted by the Women in Technology in the UK could potentially be a good start point, as we would typically see replication of these trends in the Australian market over time.

According to their research, 67% of women felt that would need to meet at least 75% of the advertised role requirements. This alarming statistic indicates that many women are self selecting out of position before they even submit their application. 

Advertisement Analysis

The following advertisement was selected at random from the ThoughtWorks website. This particular advert is in search of a software developer to join the Sydney office.

Figure 4

Key language that was identified as potentially gender biased has been highlighted in the image above, and below with brief annotations.

• “Our Geek nights” – example of a specific company culture, that may not appeal to women
• “Folks” – a typically ‘male’ word
• “Your idea of fun is probably to write an app in your spare time” – this could potentially have women self select out
• “Intelligent people” – could come across as slightly intimidating
• “Capable of developing software within complex.. environments” – again, risk of self selection out
• “Ability to work in a consulting environment” – as above
• “We like to do things differently here” – again, another strong representation of culture, without reinforcement of the exact message ie. what do you like to do differently? This is left in the unknown abyss.
• “Write code as part of your interview process” – when? Again, intimidating language / unknown
• “Element of travel” – risk of self selection out, particularly excluding those mothers with children

Industry Image

A pastiche of portrayals of people in IT (figure 5).

Quantitative Research

According to the Australian Government initiative, Employer of Choice for Women (EOCW) – women make up 45.6% of the total labour force in Australia. Furthermore, women constitute 70.2% of all part-time employees and  35.3% of all full-time employees.

The EOCW also conducted extensive research on the gender pay gap, reporting that on average, women working full-time earn 17.8% less than men working full-time. This research was conducted across all sectors in Australia, with no IT specific statistics.

In relation to existing women’s networks in Australia specific to IT, figure 6 is a list of the websites found or referred to women’s support or networks in the industry. Upon further investigation, it was found that of the 12 online groups – 8 were defunct.

Figure 6

The Australian Bureau of Statistics draws data from the Australian census. The information shown in figures 6 and 7 has been harvested from the 2010 reports. The information commences from 2000, or the dot com bubble. Despite Information Technology encompassing more than just internet services and extending far earlier than 2000, this time has been selected given the sharp increase of opportunity in the sector, and the richness of the data – enabling a clearer representation of the patterns in employment for men and women.

The graphs below represent statistics that were collated from the ABS, and cover the follow areas of the sector –

• Males – Full time employee – Industry Service Providers, Web Search Portals, Data Processing Services
• Males – Full time employee – Computer System Design and Related Services
• Females – Full time employee – Industry Service Providers, Web Search Portals, Data Processing Services
• Females – Full time employee – Computer System Design and Related Services

Figure 7

Figure 8

Whilst both sets of information portray a clear decline in internet services since 2008, there are two vastly differentiating factors in play –

Firstly – the vast gap in overall numbers: internet services sits at around 5,000 women, and 20,000 men,  and computer system design and related services 23,000 women and 90,000 men.

Secondly, the since 2008 the industry has seen a sharp decline in women in computer system design and related, whilst an increase in men in the same segment.

Internet services was effected severely in the global financial crisis, with no immediate signs of recovery back to peak levels at this point in time.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Drawing back to the key issues identified earlier in the report – industry image, selection and interview process and lack of support networks in the industry; the following are recommendations for improvement on these issues, and are based on the evidence found in the research.

Industry Image

• Removal of or even rebellion against negative images toward women
• Positive reinforcement and promotion of female role models in the industry
• Company assessment and policy creation addressing cultural and artifactual evidence of gender inequality
• Inclusive industry events, with different opportunities for women to access industry leaders

Selection and Interview Process

• Inclusive advertisements, partnering with Predictive Index to select gender neutral or language appealing to women
• Open House information evenings rather than interviews
• Returners to work program
• Interview alumni women to identify further issues

Women Networks in the Industry 

• Form alliances with the existing women’s networks
• Work with the groups on events, mentorship programs and informational collateral
• Initiative an amalgamation of all the existing sites to create one, official body for women in the IT industry for Australia

These here are only but a few recommendations – there is so much more that can be done.  A collaboration across the industry is needed to effect significant, centrally-routed change. These steps need to be taken without delay in order to address to increasing gender gap already prevalent in the industry.

REFERENCES

Dainton & Zelley (2011). Apply Communication Theory for Professional Life. Sage Publications

Employer of Choice for Women statistics, retrieved from:

http://www.eowa.gov.au/Information_Centres/Resource_Centre/Statistics/Stats_At_A_Glance_Jan_2012_PDF.pdf

Flew, T (2011) New Media. Oxford Publications, page 23 ‘The Creative Industries’

Industry statistics, retrieved from:

http://www.abs.gov.au

Information Technology, definition –

Longley, Dennis; Shain, Michael (2012), Dictionary of Information Technology (2 ed.), Macmillan Press, p. 164

Ting, S (2012) Lecture slides

The predictive index, retrieved from:

http://www.piworldwide.com/

Wood, J (2011) Gendered Lives – Communication, Gender & Culture. Wadsworth

WIT ‘Women’s Careers in Technology’ annual report 2011, retrieved from:

http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/womens-careers-in-the-technology-industry-2011-report

Social / Disconnect: The Digital Divide

The Digital Divide relates to the perceived gaps of access and usage of the Internet. The concept is broken down broadly into three sections: the global divide, the social divide and the democratic divide (Castells 2004).

According to the World Bank, there are now over 4.5 billion Internet users globally, with the United States and China dominating usage.

The global divide, according to Norris (2001), is “the differential Internet access between nations based on access to networked ICT infrastructures, computers, information transmission capacity and local website hosts”

Often when we think of lack of access to the Internet at a global level, we may conjure up images of emerging countries – perhaps with limited infrastructure or resources to support technology. Initiatives to improve the global digital divide are underway; Nicholas Negroponte for example is aiming to close this gap in developing countries through his One Laptop Per Child program.

The social divide on the other hand, according to Rice (2002) is “the differential access to and use of the Internet according to gender, income, race and location”. The work of Norris (2000) highlights that the social divide has become more prevalent in the technologically advanced nations such as the United States, Canada and Australia. It affects people from varying levels of education and income, ethnicity, age demographic and also family situations.

Web 2.0 technologies have empowered users of the Internet, and enabled them to contribute and engage with technology in ways that weren’t previously possible, without a deep understanding of the technical aspects involved in generating content. This new power has seen a spike in user-generated content from around the world – advancing people towards a globalized online community. The way we interact and socialise has evolved, creating a new conundrum of trends and patterns in our communication patterns and styles.

The effects of the digital divide on society are underlined in the 2010 documentary film Catfish.

The documentary follows Nev Schulman – a New York based photographer who is contacted by eight-year-old ‘Abby’, a Michigan-based budding painter, who asks Nev if she can replicate his photographs in painting. Flattered, Nev obliges, and they engage in contact via social media network, Facebook. Over time, Nev is connected to Abby’s mother Angela, and her older half sister Megan – all of whom begin to form online relationships via regular communication.

Gradually, contact with Megan increases, and the two establish a relationship via Internet and telephone.

Nev begins to find fault in the information Megan is providing him, and starts to pressure her to meet in person. The documentary then sees Nev going to Michigan to meet Megan, only to find that entire story – including Megan – was a complete fabrication created by the mother, Angela. Megan was in fact Angela all along. Angela had created a complex network of online social activities and content for ‘Megan’, including creating a user profile, friends network and generated regular status updates for the profile.

On meeting Nev, Angela attempts to keep up the pretense that Megan exists (though Nev strongly suspects she does not at this point) – making excuses for her absence. Eventually though, the pressure causes Angela to break down and admit that it was her all along, and that Megan didn’t actually exist. As the story continues to unfold, it becomes apparent that Angela is a very unhappy person in her life – married to a divorcee who has two disabled children, seemingly very low income and low education, Angela was forced to give up her dreams and settle in the rural town of Ishpeming, Michigan without much hope or vision of a brighter future.

That was, until the introduction of Facebook. The social network gave the woman an outlet, a voice, and allowed her to vicariously explore the world outside of her existence.

Perhaps this may seem like an obscure way to view the digital social divide, however the continued progression of technology will likely see the rise of new patterns, issues and divides in society created by digital tech advancements – globally. Could this be the closing of the global digital divide, and the widening of the social digital divide?

References:

Castells, Manuel (1997, second edition, 2004). The Power of Identity, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture Vol. II. Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell

Graham, Mark. (2011). Time Machines and Virtual Portals: The Spatialities of the Digital Divide. Progress in Development Studies, Vol. 11, No. 3, 211-227. Retrieved from:http://pdj.sagepub.com/content/11/3/211

Flew, T (2008) New Media. Oxford University Press, Victoria

Country internet usage image retrieved from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_users_by_country_world_map.PNG

Readings on the social digital divide retrieved from:

http://ccit205.wikispaces.com/Social+Divide

The population of the United States, retrieved from:

https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ix=seb&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&site=webhp&source=hp&q=population%20of%20the%20usa&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=f32958376908ba03&ix=seb&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=972&bih=564