A new global survey of women working in technology has found that the majority of women surveyed (63 per cent) feel that negative perceptions associated with inherent gender bias adversely affects their working environment and professional opportunities.
Ivanti, the company that unifies IT to better manage and secure the digital workplace, conducted its first ever Ivanti Women in Tech Survey 2018 from the 18th of April to the 8th of May 2018.
It asked over 500 women working in technology from around the globe (including the UK, Ireland and the US) about their experiences of the industry, both positive and challenging.
It comes as BusinessCloud continues its hunt for 101 Female Entrepreneurs in Tech with the deadline for entries 28th September.
The report identified that many women have to deal with gender disparity in the workplace, including having their suggestions dismissed, being constantly interrupted in meetings and being overlooked for promotion in favour of male counterparts.
The gender pay gap is also a significant issue for women working in technology. 75 per cent of respondents agreed that the best change that organisations and the wider technology industry could make to encourage more women into technology would be to pay women the same as their male counterparts.
In addition, 43 per cent said that a key struggle in the industry is a lack of female role models to look up to.
This is an issue not exclusive to technology, with the UK Government’s Gender Pay Gap Survey shining light on the fact that women are paid less than men as a national average across all sectors.
Other key findings from the report include the fact that, encouragingly, over half of those surveyed have noticed that there are more women working in technology now than there were five years ago.
88 per cent of women believe that a ‘desire to learn’ is the most important skill to have when working in technology.
67 per cent feel that ’making a positive impact on their organisation and the wider industry’ is the best thing about being a woman in technology.
One in five would advise females starting a career in technology that it is critical to ’know your worth’.
“While it is incredible to see that there are so many more women working in the technology industry than ever before, the report highlights what we have been told anecdotally for years: more needs to be done in order to encourage gender diversity in technology,” said Ivanti director of field marketing & UK Women in Tech ambassador Sarah Lewis.
“Women need to be taken seriously and be paid the same as their male counterparts in order to ensure the continued growth and diversity of the tech sector.”
The Ivanti Women in Tech Survey 2018 is a part of Ivanti’s Women in Technology initiative which launched in July 2017.
The campaign was launched as an online and face-to-face support network for women in the industry who are limited on time but still want to share ideas and successes with like-minded peers.
Through this network, Ivanti runs networking events and publishes online resources such as blogs, podcasts and curated news.
How to enter BusinessCloud’s 101 Female Entrepreneurs in Tech list:
- If you would like to nominate someone else please email [email protected] with contact information for the nominee if possible
- If you are a female entrepreneur wishing to nominate yourself simply complete the following questionnaire so we can find out a bit more about you and your business, making sure to include contact details
- Please mark any confidential information as such