Sometimes it's perceived as difficult for women to break into the IT industry. Madeleine Field tells the community how this balance can be redressed.
Earlier this year, the Chartered Institute for IT revealed that just 14.4% of IT professionals in the UK are women and one in four IT service delivery employees are female. As the IT industry sinks deeper into the crisis of a severe skills shortage, this is an issue the industry cannot afford to ignore. In fact, according to e-skills, employment in the IT industry will grow at 2.19% per annum – nearly five times faster than the UK average.
And with just 44.2% of employed graduates working within the industry six months after graduating in 2010, the maintenance of a steady flow of graduates into the industry should be viewed as a top priority. However, without the inclusion of women within the sector it is inevitable that the industry and therefore the rest of the economy will suffer.
In my opinion, one of the best ways to tackle this issue in the short term would be to train women from other disciplines and backgrounds as well as ensuring that women who have studied a related subject embark on careers within the field. The issue affecting so many university leavers who are seeking to break into the sector surrounds the fact that IT employers often require graduates to possess the robust set of technical skills and commercial experience needed to hit the ground running.
Although this clearly affects all graduates, male or female, this dilemma mixed with the common stereotype of a 'geeky' male-dominated industry is arguably deterring women from the field. The way in which women are being trained in order to embark on IT roles may also be having a huge impact on the extent to which women succeed within the sector.
The COO of facebook made an interesting point during one of her recent talks on the lack of women in IT. She drew on an experiment which found that a group of girls who were led to believe that women are naturally weaker at mathematics performed considerably less well in a related exam, compared to a group of women who were told the opposite. In my opinion this study highlights one of the key ingredients for ensuring that women enter the field as well as emphasising one of the focal reasons behind the crisis.
It is not women's capability that is causing the problem and as e-skills pointed out, girls continue to consistently out perform boys in IT related subjects at school. In contrast, it is the perception women have of the subject as well as their own capabilities that may be hindering their development within this lucrative industry.
Installing a sense of self belief into women throughout their education and ultimately post graduate training could therefore have a lasting and profound effect on women's success and entry into the industry. Positive encouragement throughout training as well as a strong support network is vital in my opinion.
For this reason we continue to appoint a number of female trainers and recently launched our internal female mentoring initiative, which will provide our female trainees with a source of support and assure them that their goals are fully achievable. I would advise companies training women within the field to do the same as well as alerting trainees to any women within senior positions. The advantages of doing so could be extremely beneficial to the industry and will certainly contribute to a decline in the worsening IT skills shortage.
Women may also benefit the industry by bringing a set of desired skills and attributes to IT related roles. It is widely recognised that women often bring a different viewpoint and way of thinking to the table within all industries. Not only does this enhance creativity within a team and organisation but it may also offer alternative solutions to problems. The results of a survey conducted by recruitment site Target Jobs, also revealed that 56% of the female IT professionals questioned felt that female graduates brought additional or different skills to the sector.
This percentage of women pointed to "a greater attention to detail and a logical approach," as well as "more developed soft skills" within their list of positive female characteristics. I strongly believe in the importance of attaining optimum communication skills before entering the IT industry and my company doesn't allow our graduate trainees to touch a computer for the first week of their training course.
Instead our trainees are prepared for their future roles through extensive soft skills training. The fact that women may naturally possess stronger soft skills only reaffirms the value of their contribution to the industry.
Although I don't believe that women are in any way less technical than men, women are often more sociable, approachable and adaptable to various working environments. As IT professionals now have to interact with a variety of people across various departments and organisations, these attributes may give women a certain advantage and ultimately ensure that their contribution to the industry is invaluable.
Allowing women access to IT roles through industry-centred training should therefore be viewed as a priority by all employers within the sector.
Earlier this year, the Chartered Institute for IT revealed that just 14.4% of IT professionals in the UK are women and one in four IT service delivery employees are female. As the IT industry sinks deeper into the crisis of a severe skills shortage, this is an issue the industry cannot afford to ignore. In fact, according to e-skills, employment in the IT industry will grow at 2.19% per annum – nearly five times faster than the UK average.
And with just 44.2% of employed graduates working within the industry six months after graduating in 2010, the maintenance of a steady flow of graduates into the industry should be viewed as a top priority. However, without the inclusion of women within the sector it is inevitable that the industry and therefore the rest of the economy will suffer.
In my opinion, one of the best ways to tackle this issue in the short term would be to train women from other disciplines and backgrounds as well as ensuring that women who have studied a related subject embark on careers within the field. The issue affecting so many university leavers who are seeking to break into the sector surrounds the fact that IT employers often require graduates to possess the robust set of technical skills and commercial experience needed to hit the ground running.
"...without the inclusion of women within the sector it is inevitable that the industry and therefore the rest of the economy will suffer."
Although this clearly affects all graduates, male or female, this dilemma mixed with the common stereotype of a 'geeky' male-dominated industry is arguably deterring women from the field. The way in which women are being trained in order to embark on IT roles may also be having a huge impact on the extent to which women succeed within the sector.
The COO of facebook made an interesting point during one of her recent talks on the lack of women in IT. She drew on an experiment which found that a group of girls who were led to believe that women are naturally weaker at mathematics performed considerably less well in a related exam, compared to a group of women who were told the opposite. In my opinion this study highlights one of the key ingredients for ensuring that women enter the field as well as emphasising one of the focal reasons behind the crisis.
It is not women's capability that is causing the problem and as e-skills pointed out, girls continue to consistently out perform boys in IT related subjects at school. In contrast, it is the perception women have of the subject as well as their own capabilities that may be hindering their development within this lucrative industry.
Installing a sense of self belief into women throughout their education and ultimately post graduate training could therefore have a lasting and profound effect on women's success and entry into the industry. Positive encouragement throughout training as well as a strong support network is vital in my opinion.
For this reason we continue to appoint a number of female trainers and recently launched our internal female mentoring initiative, which will provide our female trainees with a source of support and assure them that their goals are fully achievable. I would advise companies training women within the field to do the same as well as alerting trainees to any women within senior positions. The advantages of doing so could be extremely beneficial to the industry and will certainly contribute to a decline in the worsening IT skills shortage.
Women may also benefit the industry by bringing a set of desired skills and attributes to IT related roles. It is widely recognised that women often bring a different viewpoint and way of thinking to the table within all industries. Not only does this enhance creativity within a team and organisation but it may also offer alternative solutions to problems. The results of a survey conducted by recruitment site Target Jobs, also revealed that 56% of the female IT professionals questioned felt that female graduates brought additional or different skills to the sector.
This percentage of women pointed to "a greater attention to detail and a logical approach," as well as "more developed soft skills" within their list of positive female characteristics. I strongly believe in the importance of attaining optimum communication skills before entering the IT industry and my company doesn't allow our graduate trainees to touch a computer for the first week of their training course.
"I strongly believe in the importance of attaining optimum communication skills before entering the IT industry and my company doesn't allow our graduate trainees to touch a computer for the first week of their training course."
Instead our trainees are prepared for their future roles through extensive soft skills training. The fact that women may naturally possess stronger soft skills only reaffirms the value of their contribution to the industry.
Although I don't believe that women are in any way less technical than men, women are often more sociable, approachable and adaptable to various working environments. As IT professionals now have to interact with a variety of people across various departments and organisations, these attributes may give women a certain advantage and ultimately ensure that their contribution to the industry is invaluable.
Allowing women access to IT roles through industry-centred training should therefore be viewed as a priority by all employers within the sector.
Madeleine Field is global head of recruitment and events at the FDM Academy. Madeleine is responsible for the Academy events and recruitment teams, based in London. As well as overlooking recruitment operations for the academy's graduate programme worldwide, Madeleine also organises all corporate Academy presentations, workshops, seminars and graduate fairs. FDM Academy is a division of FDM Group, responsible for launching the IT careers of 3,000 graduates worldwide, for over 21 years
