68% of women say gender views are a major barrier in the tech industry

International Women’s Day gives businesses around the world a chance to reflect on gender-based inequalities in the workplace. This inequality is often looked at in terms of pay, but there are other factors to consider.

London Tech Week interviewed over 100 female technology professionals in an effort to understand the challenges they face in the working world.

The result of this survey was shocking, with 68% of women believing that gender perception is the biggest obstacle to entering the tech industry.

Additionally, 57% see a lack of role models as a barrier to entering the sector as well as stereotyping (60%) and support during schooling (48%) as obstacles in starting a career in the industry.

If that wasn’t enough, COVID-19 has also impacted the careers of women in tech. 72% of women believe careers in tech are still suffering thanks to them shouldering most of the burden of childcare or care of other dependents in their household whilst juggling work. Being forced to reduce work in order to take time off for their children has also had a detrimental impact on 48% of tech careers.

One respondent commented: “I have watched women and men join in the same roles and be treated completely differently. Men are thrown in at the deep end and challenged, women are faced with the attitude ‘I don’t want to give her anything too difficult’ from men at a lower skill level.

“The perception is always that women must first prove that they are capable, and this attitude is persistent.”

Another woman focused on the lack of female applicants: “The roles are there, there just aren’t enough women applying, let alone women with the right skills; these are more senior tech roles.”

How to get women into tech

There are some positive aspects for women in the world of tech. Notably, women-led tech start-ups are on the rise.

More broadly women feel improvement in working tech is, in part, due to seeing more leading women in tech championed in the press (60%), an increase in women-focused business events (49%), and more women-led tech funds (58%).

Respondents were also encouraged by accelerator programs dedicated to women founders (49%).

In terms of making changes that encompass women, only 38% believed that increased childcare would help women enter the industry.

Instead, respondents want to see flexible working opportunities (62%), equal pay (68%), initiatives from companies to educate girls at school (57%), and mentorship programs (55%).

Also, many saw (54%) that the training of non-technical staff would be an effective gateway. On top of that, providing well-documented progression opportunities (51%) will help level the playing field. Just under half (49%) said that there needs to be a greater focus on championing women role models.

Elka Goldstein, interim CEO of EQL:HER, said: “We are seeing huge leaps forwards in rebalancing gender in tech, but there is still lots more to be done.

“We need to look at the systemic issues across the board, supporting women at just one level is not going to solve the problem. We need to be looking at solutions that start during women’s school age and span across their lifetime.

“Educate in schools, create visible role models, provide access to skills programs and generate more opportunities for funding.

“It can’t be just one of these interventions it needs to be all of them. Society shapes stereotypes and creates biases that we need to address well before women even enter the workforce.”

Of course, addressing the ills of society is a great effort and a great place to start making impactful change is the workplace. Whether it’s simply engaging staff and understanding their concerns around sexism or taking a deeper look at the recruitment and progression that positions offer.

Organizations need to look at how they illustrate career paths to women, understand who is progressing in positions through data, and analyze the human elements that may be impacting the careers of women.

When it comes to recruiting talent, even job ads can be reassessed to use masculine language and be posted on more inclusive job boards. The anonymization of CVs can also steer companies away from unintentional bias.

In short, there are many things that companies can do to tackle gender inequalities in tech spaces, and it’s time to start doing it.