Tech workers misinformed about number of women at top, finds Computer Weekly

Women are well represented in tech leadership positions across Europe, according to half of the people asked during the annual Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT salary survey.

While this may seem positive, it is also misguided, with numbers collected by the Tech Talent Charter finding women made up only 21% of senior tech leaders in the UK within its signatories, and Frank Recruitment Group finding women only made up a quarter of CIO positions in FTSE 100 companies last year.

Hila Naor, vice-president of product at artificial intelligence (AI) firm Atera, said that this lack of female leaders at the top can have a knock-on effect down the line: “An issue specifically within the IT realm is the lack of female role models in senior IT positions. So many young women are discouraged from pursuing careers in tech, or perhaps aren’t even considering such a career in the first place.

“A way to include and promote women in IT is by starting mentorship programs. Pairing female employees with experienced mentors can provide the support and guidance they need to grow in their careers.”

Despite diversity and inclusion in the technology sector becoming increasingly discussed over the past 10 years – 10% of IT workers in Europe claimed their company is currently doing nothing to advanced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in their technology teams.

When it comes to gender, 62% said their IT department is succeeding in growing and maintaining the number of women in their tech teams, but 5% admitted the opposite.

In fact, a fifth said their tech team is made up of less than 5% women, and only 7% said women make up half or more of their tech team, though more than a third said there are plans in place to hire more women into tech roles.

Brigitte West, director of product at digital healthcare platform DrDoctor, said: “You just need to look at the statistics in the UK to know that there are still huge barriers when it comes to DEI. It’s hard to look at predominantly white male teams and imagine yourself breaking into it. And this leads to a larger crisis around confidence and sense of belonging.”

The slow growth of equity of men and women in the tech sector has been a concern for some time, causing many to worry about whether the future of fast-growing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber will accidentally include developer bias due to a lack of diverse decision-makers in the room when products and services are being made.

Thankfully, those who answered Computer Weekly’s survey had a mostly positive outlook on how women are treated within their tech departments – 71% believe women and men have the same opportunities for growth and progression, and 60% said women and men with similar qualifications are paid the same.

While this may be the case in some organisations, across the industry in the UK there are still significant gender pay gaps in tech, with research from BCS finding that men in the sector made around 8% more than women in 2022.

Attitudes towards DEI differ in different parts of Europe – some countries do not see the urgency or admit to having a problem, while other countries are working hard to bridge the diversity gap.

A small percentage of IT workers in Europe said their companies are just starting on their DEI journey, while 31% said it’s a work in progress, and 40% said their strategy is mature both internally and externally, with some optimisation needed.

The discussion around diversity in tech has also long since surpassed solely gender, with traits such as age, ability, sexuality and ethnicity all now common topics of discussion.

Just over 40% of tech workers in Europe believe their tech teams are succeeding in recruiting, developing and maintaining an ethnically diverse workforce, although 13% disagreed.

Though, it is worth noting that of those who answered, 78% were of white ethnicity and only 17% identified as women.

Almost 70% of European tech workers claimed people of colour have similar opportunities in their organisations to their white counterparts, and 59% said people of colour with similar qualifications as their white counterparts are paid equally.

But only 34% believe people of colour are well-represented in leadership positions within their organisations, with a quarter saying this isn’t true at all.

In other areas of diversity, a quarter of tech workers believe firms are doing well at creating an inclusive environment in their technology teams for people from the LGBTQIA+ community, 41% said the same for those who are differently abled, and 37% agreed their tech teams were doing well to create an inclusive and diverse environment for those who are neurodivergent.

Just over 60% also said their tech teams were succeeding in driving diversity and inclusion for those outside of the average age range of those working in technology, and 61% think their company is fair to working parents.

But there is still much much more to do when it comes to creating a truly equitable tech sector where those working in it reflect those using the technology developed – some have suggested hiring women and those from underrepresented groups could contribute towards closing the long-enduring skills gap in the sector, something 54% of those asked agreed with.

Ultimately, nothing can be achieved without the help of people in decision-making positions, which at this point in time are predominantly white men.

Half of respondents believe men need to be more involved in getting women in IT departments, and that with more diverse voices on their technology teams, companies are more likely to do well.

Katie Whitehouse, senior people director, EMEA at ServiceNow, said: “Building better DEI strategies and practices requires a change in mindset from not just the board, but employees across the company. From hiring practices to awareness programmes, flexible benefit policies, equitable parental leave and more – this isn’t a matter of finding the silver bullet, but in getting all levels involved in change.

“Men, for example, play a critical role in gender equality as an ally in driving change – it’s an example of how every employee must feel empowered to make a difference to DEI within their organisation.”