With the digital developments that have occurred in the past few years, the technology industry is increasing exponentially. Tech is the future, and we have all realized that when the entire world was closed but we were still connected, and some of our businesses were still operating with the help of numerous helpful digital tools and technology.
Tech is being pursued as a successful career path by people around the world because of its rapid growth, fast employment rate, numerous career opportunities, and high median salary. However, according to many statistics and reports, there are fewer females in the technology sector as compared to their male counterparts and the industry still has a long way to go to achieve gender equality in the technology sector, but we have seen significant improvements in the past few years!
How Hard Has It Been for a Woman To Pursue a Tech-Related Career?
According to the built-in Beta, 45% of the women who are working in the STEM field report facing discrimination in the hiring or recruitment process whereas women of color (Hispanic or black) who have acquired an engineering or computer science degree are less likely to be hired in a STEM-related career than their white peers. The statistics by Built-in Beta also show that 66% of the women who work in their respective STEM careers at their current companies do not see a future for themselves at the firm and 39% of the females believe they are not offered a promotion because of their gender.
Inspiring Change in the Tech Industry for Women
Despite the disheartening statistics about the lack of women in the tech field, women’s career aspirations are evolving and we can see why women are the future of the technology industry. According to Statista, about 25% of females work in some of the major companies in the USA such as Microsoft (20%), Google (23%), Apple (23%), and Facebook (23%).
A girl can pursue a successful career in tech starting with proper education and a bachelor’s degree. According to statistics by Tech Crunch, 74% of young girls express a desire to pursue a career in the STEM field. A successful career in STEM starts with the passion to attain a STEM-related degree, and with the advancements of technological developments in the upcoming years, many new doors will open for women who aspire to work in STEM-related careers. This is quite evident now too!
According to CNBC, some of the top technology companies for females to work at are Accenture, Citigroup, Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, The New York Times Company, Airbnb, Experian, Lilly, New York Life, PwC, Target, UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), Dev Technology Group, HP Inc., and Morningstar Inc.
According to a projection by AnitaB.org, female technologists comprised 28.8% of the workforce in 2020. This proves a steady increase in female technologists in the past few years – 26.2% in 2019 and 25.9% in 2018.
2021 shows hope for a rapid evolvement of women in the technology industry with 31% of the new hires in the first quarter of this year being mostly females in January. From the companies that were surveyed by AnitaB.org, 87% of them revealed that they provided benefits to their female workers. Some of the benefits included dependent care assistance, child-care center discounts, and child care backup.
CNBC further revealed that in 2020, female CEOs were only 3.9% whereas in 2021 they reached a rate of 3.9% which reveals hope for accelerated growth for women in tech.
According to a report by McKinsey and Company, implementing gender equality could contribute to a total profit of US$2.6 trillion in 2025 to annual GDP in China, US$169 billion in the ROK, and US$325 billion in Japan.
How to Encourage Females to Create a Future in Tech?
As the technology industry expands rapidly, opportunities for various careers will surge in the upcoming years for all – including females who did not have as many career opportunities in the heavily male-dominated technology industry.
Permentech suggests some ways that can help open doors for women in tech and also help in the advancements of their overall careers.
- Integrate STEM courses in primary school. Traditionally, young girls gravitate towards supposedly more “feminine careers,” and end up pursuing degrees in fields of literature, and arts. In most of the schools, girls are told that being a scientist, pilot, tech and IT specialist is only supposed to be for boys. However, it is crucial for parents, and educationists to encourage young girls to pursue a degree in a career they’re passionate about!
- One of the most crucial pillars of supporting young girls to pursue STEM-related careers is mentoring which can be done through educational groups that provide a community of females who share similar interests to pursue science-related careers.
- Are you a female looking to stand out amongst the crowd in the technology industry and have your very first big break with a STEM-related job you love? Then we have the perfect tip for you! You can either take certifications from online learning platforms, attend industry conferences, or enroll in university classes.
- If you are an industry professional wondering how you can give more opportunities to women in tech to eliminate the gender gap in the technology industry, what you can do is contribute towards eliminating bias in the overall hiring process. Another thing you can do as an industry professional in a leadership role is to contribute towards closing the pay gap by providing equal pay to females with the same educational and professional backgrounds as their male counterparts.