Information technology is the utilization of Computers in storage, transmission and retrieval of data in an organization. Information technology world is a very wide field. To properly integrate the organizational needs with the available products and organizations capacity such as the availability of infrastructure and capacity to maintain and expand the existing information technology, there is need to have an extensive knowledge on the Information Technology field. To meet these technological needs, institutions of higher learning have been different degree programs that relates to information technology. This has helped improve innovation and proper use of computers. Due to the complicated nature of Information Technology world, there has been a gender imbalance on representation in the IT world. Information technology field has over a very long time been dominated by male gender compared to their female counterparts. Since Information technology has been a male dominated field, it is no surprise that women interest in the profession has been low and even some who are professionals in the field are willing to give upon IT and major on other professions since they regard it as unpleasant for them. The under-representation of female gender is as a result of many factors that come along with computing and the general societal misconceptions. This essay seeks to analyze under-representation trend of women in information technology and how this can be improved.
Analysis
As misrepresentation continues in IT sector, many factors have contributed to th e decreased interest of women in the field. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have always been perceived by the society as a field specifically suiting male gender. Girls are born and grow in such societies with misconceptions that complicated professionals are meant for men. This is subsequently followed by the experiences and facts that they see within the industry. As girls grow, negative attitude develops and low expectations on joining the profession molds. Growing in a society with such undermining of the female gender in Information technology therefore shapes their abilities in the technological sector.
Advancing forward to institutions of higher learning, the notion of Information technology being male dominated further Influence career development through choice of degree programs offered in these institutions. Despite efforts from stake holders in technology, government, education and non-profit organizations to promote increase in number of girls joining computer related courses, it is evident that the disparity is still at its highest. Although a large percentage of women have joined institutions of higher learning, a very low percentage of around 20% have opted for graduate degrees that relate to computer science and engineering while 59% have opted for biology related programs (Cheryan, Master, and Meltzoff 2015). This makes the overall number of professionals in the field very low bringing a great dominance by the male gender. Choice of profession is a matter of personal decision. As much as women option to take up other disciplines other that computer related would be attributed to their personal choices, social constrains plays a major role on the perception and decisions regarding choice of such profession. The low number of female gender in the field is majorly contributed to the fear by girls of what is mostly known as boys’ profession among other factors.
Stereotyping of women in Information technology further continues even to those who join the profession. The method of teaching in schools influence the way students develop interested with a subject. Mostly, girls in class compared to boys are often given preference in terms of engaging practically in computer lessons. Girls are less engaged in gaining practical knowledge and mostly confined to taking notes in class. This greatly affects the way girls connect between what is being taught and the outside world. Further, as girls get out of classrooms, their interaction with computers is limited compared to their counterparts and this reduces their experiences ability. Since girls develop lack of interest for computers, prior knowledge of IT before joining institutions of higher learning becomes limited. Due to the nature of the education system, students who had prior exposure and good grades are highly preferred in admission to various degree programs. Since girls do not get proper prior exposure, they don’t get selected for IT programs. This is discrimination on female gender since the system do not consider the fact that even though girls did not get a proper exposure and experience, they can as well catch up with boys and even become better in the field.
Sexism further continues in the Information technology as women enter into their various IT jobs. As much as women might have joined the IT world, it is evident that women like perfection unlike men who treat a failure as a learning experience. In computer programming for example, codes might not compile. This does not go well with women unlike their male counterparts. This has seen female hold lower positions in organizations information technology departments. This have also had them being underpaid. Low salaries to women further discourage women from joining the sector. Subsequently, women fail to rise to higher positions in the IT departments compared to men. In some cases, it has been a trend that women tend to be paid low despite the fact that they might be holding the same position as their male counterparts or even lower than those male who hold lower positions in IT sector. On other instances, even though women might succeed to finally finish college education in IT related degrees, their selection to jobs are limited compared to men. Employers would prefer to employ men compared to women due to the aggressive nature of men and the notion that their ability to deliver well is higher compared to women. Furthermore, sexism still gets to be seen in offices and even outside offices. Due to their low number in the sector, female will feel uncomfortable even they attend IT related conferences. The male dominated field will see lots of male coming to the conference leaving the few women to get attention on how and being treated differently. At some point they might be overlooked and treated like they are not IT professionals.
Motherhood has also highly contributed to women leaving the Information technology field. Fortune recently carried out a study on the number of female who left the tech industry. In their report, the study found out that out of 716, 85% of them reported that their decisions to leave the industry were as a result of maternity leave policy. ("http://fortune.com", 2018). Striking a balance between motherhood and work requires proper consideration by policy makers in every institution. If women feel that they are not well considered in making policies with regards to maternity leave, there are higher probabilities that they will opt out of the job. Lack of support to female staff from their employers has been a trend in the field. Unlike Male who might work for long hours knowing that someone is looking after their children, women need extra time to look after their children and most a times, IT jobs need a lot of dedication and time. Programming for example can take weeks to create a reasonable working program. This requires lots of dedication and time which could be very difficult for women to be flexible and fit into it. Alongside this, Women ideas on various emerging issues in IT might not be taken into consideration by virtue of them being women. This reduces their self confidence and career growth becomes compromised.
Mentorship of women in the Information technology sector is also an important factor that contributes to the under-representation. As fewer women show interest in the information technology sector, fewer women pursue IT related courses and some even drop out of the profession, it is evident that there will be very few women left in the field who will act as role models to other women who might have had the passion to pursue information technology as a career. This means that women who would have wished to join the profession will drop out and pursue other careers. As a result, there will be even lesser women in the field as we advance further in the sector. Research shows that effective mentorship is not available for women who like to join the profession since studies show that unlike those who are mentored by fellow women, women who get mentored by men feel less empowered and fail to pursue further their careers on information technology (Draus, Mishra, Goreva, Caputo, Leone, " Repack, 2014). Lack of interest further limits the ability of women to get mentorship.
The gender disparities in IT sector that is brought along by low participation of women has become a challenge and problematic in the IT sector and general economic growth of nations across the Globe. There is a high demand of skilled IT professionals across the globe. This means that, lack of participation of women in this sector locks them out of the highly lucrative jobs within the job market. Women tend to miss out some opportunities which could have brought lots of benefits to them both financially and career wise. Economic growth has been digitalized across the globe. For this reason, the demand for skilled IT professionals is becoming higher. To meet this demand, it is important to pull the human resource from both genders. The labor force pulled from female gender will help reduce the supply and demand gap that exists today. Although there has been an attempt by researchers and policy makers to reduce this gap, there has been more focus on the USA and Europe leaving out growing economies that depend on their local labor force to steer economic growth. (Powell " Chang 2016).
Furthermore, due to changing shape of the modern society, there has been diversification across many fields. Women make up a very large population in today’s world. Due to this reason, there is an increase in the number of women consumers in tech sector. For technology to be relevant to these female consumers, it is important to consider their participation in the design and development of IT products and services. By doing so, it will boost economic growth and further innovation in the sector.
As much as women are few in IT world, it is noted that women can do better in the IT world and some women proved that. Susan Wojcicki, Sr. for example is the current CEO of You tube. This is one of the internet giants and having such people on top management helps provide mentorship and remove stereotyping about women’s ability in IT. Other women that have contributed greatly include Sheryl Sandberg whois the chief operating officer of Facebook and Virginia Rometty who is the CEO of IBM (Technology, 2018). It is therefore possible to help increase the number of women in IT.
Conclusion
As technology advances, there is need to ensure that there is diversification to meet all the needs of all people. Women are nowadays needed more in the Technology since they help bring out better ideas that will even meet the needs of women consumers. To make this possible, there is need to reduce stereotyping of women on the basis that IT was not meant for them. Furthermore, attention needs to be put on issue of sexism where women are not appreciated as equals in IT sector and end up being underpaid and even denied promotions opportunities. In addition, there is need to consider on a global perspective the possibility of positive contribution of women in IT. This will enable policies to be made that promote women participation in the sector therefore improving the sector and general economic growth. Education systems also need to be adjusted so as to give women more practical experience that could be applied in the real world apart from classroom notes. Since the IT environment is considered unpleasant for women, there will be a continued gender disparity in the sector unless proper measures are taken. There is therefore need to consider gender equality in IT for the sector to improve further.
References
Cheryan, S., Master, A., " Meltzoff, A. N. (2015). Cultural stereotypes as gatekeepers: Increasing girls’ interest in computer science and engineering by diversifying stereotypes. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 49.
Draus, P., Mishra, S., Goreva, N., Caputo, D., Leone, G., " Repack, D. (2014). A comprehensive study of the perceptions and support structures of women engaged in IT/IS careers. International Journal of Management " Information Systems (Online), 18(3), 155.
http://fortune.com. (2018). Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2014/10/02/women-leave-tech-culture/
Powell, C., " Chang, A. M. (2016). Women in Tech as a Driver for Growth in Emerging Economies. Report published under the auspices of the Women and Foreign Policy Program, The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Washington, DC.
Technology, 6. (2018). 6 Amazing Women in Information Technology - King University. Retrieved from https://online.king.edu/information-technology/6-amazing-women-in-information-technology/
