BIOS: Technology Means Business

New research by online recruitment specialist The IT Job Board finds that 48.3 per cent of female IT professionals said their decision not to have children had been influenced by work-related choices.

Of the 31 per cent of women respondents with children, 70.4 per cent of these believed this had adversely affected their career. Almost two fifths (38.1 per cent) would take a lower paid role that offered childcare facilities, although only 12.2 per cent of people surveyed worked at organisations providing childcare.

“Many women clearly feel it’s a situation of ‘either or’ - choosing a career in the IT sector restricts their freedom to have a family. In today’s supposedly egalitarian society this is unacceptable,” says Ray Duggins, managing director of The IT Job Board.

The number of women working in the technology sector has been falling steadily - UK IT industry trade body, Intellect, recently reported the proportion of female IT employees as 16 per cent, down from 27 per cent in 1997. The IT Job Board undertook its research among IT professionals to better understand the issues behind this trend in order that employers know the steps that need to be taken to reverse it.

Other key findings of the www.theitjobboard.com research include: 65.5 per cent of women feel there is ‘macho’ culture in the IT workplace, while 69.6 per cent of men do not; 65.7 per cent of men do not think women are discriminated against, but 78.2 per cent of women believe they are; 54 per cent of women believe that being female has worked against them (with the key perceived disadvantages being lack of recognition by male bosses, reduced earnings and lack of career prospects).

Although men responding to the survey were aware of the issues facing females in the IT workplace, they did not attach the same significance to them. For example: 28 per cent of women believed that being female resulted in lack of recognition by male bosses compared to 13.5 per cent of men; 27 per cent of women felt they had fewer career prospects than male counterparts, 10 per cent of men recognised this as a problem; and 21 per cent of women said they earned less, 8.5 per cent of men believed this to be the case.

Duggins continues: “IT organisations have got to get to grips with this issue. Aside from their moral duty to do so, the industry is facing a serious skills shortage so alienating half the potential workforce is incredibly short-sighted. In addition, women bring a diversity to the workforce, the importance of which cannot be underestimated.”

Despite the worrying results of the survey, it appears that the IT industry does offer senior opportunities for women - 86.3 per cent of men and 74.7 per cent of women had worked for a female boss.

[Best Computer Pricing UK]
[Best Computer Pricing US]