Keeping Women in Tech
Tech jobs are notoriously male-dominated. In 2023, less than a third of positions in the industry were held by women. Diversity in tech is often framed as a performance issue — diverse teams are supposed to deliver better products, considering the needs of a broader range of users.
It is essential to strive for diversity in the tech industry and ensure equal representation of women for better product outcomes and social justice. After all, 50% of the population is female, and women are well-represented in other employment sectors. Achieving equal representation in the lucrative tech sector would mean gender equality.
Female representation in tech
Statistics on the representation of women in a range of standard tech jobs in the US are taken from Zippia.
We find that even in roles commonly associated with high female participation, such as UX designer, less than 50% of workers are female. The percentage of women in senior and managerial roles drops compared to entry-level roles.
The leaky pipeline
We can see above that the participation of women decreases with each step on the career ladder. This phenomenon is known as the leaky pipeline. I first came across this concept during my Ph.D., as it also applies to academia.
A common counterargument is that today’s full professors were hired at a time when there were fewer women “available” in the job market overall. But even if we adjust the numbers, the leaky pipeline remains: Today, 50% of qualified scientists are female, but still, only one in three new professors is a woman.
Why are women leaving tech?
Women leave tech at a higher rate than men. Among computer science graduates, 38% of women work in the tech sector, compared to 53% of men. This is commonly attributed to the following factors:
- Starting a family
- Tired of being in a boys’ club
- Slow career progression compared to men
- Pay gap
Let’s unpack these factors one at a time. First, starting a family usually requires a father and a mother. Women still bear the heavier burden of childcare and take a step back in their careers. When they re-enter the workforce after maternity leave, they are forced to take jobs that allow them to combine work and family. Tech jobs often perform poorly in this regard, offering fewer part-time options.
Those in part-time jobs have significantly worse career prospects. Promotions go to full-time workers; a part-time worker’s career is stagnant. But even when working full-time, women are less likely to be promoted than men. According to a McKinsey report, for every 100 men, only 87 women are promoted, even though there is no difference in career ambition.
The general atmosphere in tech is often described as “bro culture.” The workplace is typically male-dominated, and up to 78% of women reporthaving faced discrimination based on their gender. Being constantly undervalued, mistaken for the intern or secretary, and passed over for promotions can undermine the ambition and self-esteem of even the most motivated employee.
Pay and benefits are critical factors for employee satisfaction. Overall, women in tech earn less than men. According to a CIO report, among those who are satisfied with their income, women earn 14% less than their male counterparts. The common myth that women care less about pay is now debunked. Women are smart enough to notice when underpaid compared to their male counterparts, and this inequality can be a push factor for leaving the industry.
The decision to leave tech is often framed as an individual decision rather than something caused by a dynamic that affects the entire industry. One by one, individual women decide to drop out, change careers, and leave the lucrative tech sector.
At the rate we see, a collective dynamic needs to be addressed.
After all, who can blame an individual woman for leaving a career that leaves her on the sidelines, in a work environment where she is constantly being undervalued?
Ideas for keeping women in tech
To fix the leaky pipeline problem, we must first acknowledge that it is a problem. Women leaving tech at higher rates than men is not an individual problem. It is a collective problem.
In the future, I would like to see more flexible career paths. Currently, the critical years for career development coincide with the age of starting a family. Given that women do most of the child care, this puts them at a disadvantage. But today, we work for three decades after our childbearing years, so there is more time to catch up than we think.
We also need to address the gender imbalance in computer science degrees. I have volunteered as a mentor in a program focused on female high school students, where they can meet and network with women working in STEM. This can help make STEM more appealing to young women and, in the long run, increase female participation in the field.
Hiring more women can help to improve the company culture. According to a Quartz report, workplace culture changes with a critical mass of 30% of women in leadership positions. In my experience, having at least one female colleague can already break up the feeling of working in a “boys’ club.”
Women need to be promoted at all levels. Right now, there is a lot of pressure on companies to have a quota of women at the CEO and board level. But we need women in middle and senior management and female senior technical experts. It is clear that to get women into senior positions, they must stay in the industry. We have to fix the leaky pipeline.
Finally, men in the industry need to work on their unconscious bias and conscious behaviour. Gender equality is an issue that should not be left to individual women fighting an uphill battle against a working environment that is designed to exclude them. We need the support of everyone in the industry to create a more diverse tech sector.
