Less than 3% of women in ICT space make it – Men still rule the roost

With the world fast moving into the digital space due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is women in this industry that are marginalised and stand to lose the most, as only a small fraction of women reach managerial positions in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

Research by auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that while 22% graduates in ICT were female, only 2.9% continue to have a successful career in the industry.

Women hold 19% of technology-related jobs at the world’s top ten technology companies and only 28% have leadership positions in those companies.

On the other hand, men make up 68% of those with science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and careers. 95% of those who go on to reach managerial positions are male.

ALSO READ: 27 Soweto schools receive R300K donation each for ICT equipment

This was a worldwide trend, with a survey by London Tech Week finding that stereotyping and lack of support during schooling are the biggest barriers for women to enter the tech industry in the UK.

The demographic distortion in South Africa is driven by culture and behaviour, with gender norms, stereotypes, biases and sexual harassment being the most common reasons for girls and women dropping out of potential careers in technical fields, said PwC.

CEO at technology company M4Jam Georgie Midgley said a career in tech can be lonely as a woman.

“The gap is far from being bridged and though there are obstacles to the advancement of women in every industry, tech seems like a particularly male-dominated field. It’s very difficult to break through, but this is where women need to work together to support each other.”

Co-founder of Women in Tech Samantha Perry said the issue of gender diversity in the industry was multi-faceted, with South Africa being a relatively traditional and patriarchal society where girls are not raised to be mathematicians and scientists but to be mothers and wives.

“We enforce those prejudices on girls, but also in the boys around them that girls can’t do it. There is research that children up until the ages of between seven and eight show equal attitude towards maths and science and by age nine, they become less good at it and we tell [girls] they are not good at it.”

ALSO READ: Education dept aim to improve ICT in schools to finish curriculum

Parents and teachers were largely responsible for this attitude and the fact that for a long time, the industry has been dominated by white men, said Perry.

“We would largely see white men. Then it became a racially diverse group, but it was still men. So if a 19-year-old black woman wants to enter the industry, she can’t relate to people in that sector. There needs to be a showcase of women in the sector of various races. The sector itself has not done a good enough job of diversity and it has not done a good job of marketing areas of high diversity,” she told The Citizen.

When it comes to the future of women in ICT, Midgley said the main goal should be preventing loss of confidence among women in the sector.

“At some point, many women in tech seem to lose confidence in the face of male-dominated workspaces. While we see men take chances, even if they’re not ready, we as women are more cautious and less self-assured. Women need to support each other and build each other up to embrace challenges and leap ahead in the same way,” said Midgley.

ALSO READ: ICT youths to develop ‘Smart Joburg’ plan

Perry said businesses were starting to recognise that diversity was profitable, and the more the board and management of a company are, the more revenue there would be.  

“There is a pragmatic reason for that. If 80% of my customers are female and 80% of my staff members being male, then I am missing out on a lot of opportunities with my market. But if I have 80% of my staff being female, then it means I have people who look like my client, who act my client, who have my clients hobbies and you can relate to this… The more diversity and views and voices you have, the wider your potential market and the better and broader your product line can serve the needs of those diverse audiences.”

“If you only have white men in your business then you are missing a trick. There are different cultural differences which will always be there,” said Perry.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za