K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
It’s no secret that female representation in the IT sector leaves much to be desired. When searching: “Gender representation in tech” on Google, one is met with headlines like: “Women remain under-represented in emerging tech” (PWC); “Women in tech statistics: The hard truths of an uphill battle” (CIO); and “Are we really closing the gender gap in tech?” (Forbes). Female representation in the IT sector is no longer a taboo subject reserved only for male-dominated conversations, and while previously and consistently questioned, women have proven their capabilities time and time again, and more than earned their seat at the table. Yet inequalities persist, proving that addressing the elephant in the room is no longer the polite thing to do – it’s imperative to the future of the industry.
No, not all female professionals work in HR
“I remember the first few times I interviewed older male candidates who had applied for a job with BBD. I could always tell that they thought I was from HR and wondered when the boss was going to arrive so that we could begin the interview,” tells BBD executive, Charlene Cooke. “At first, I felt weird about it and made sure I invited some older male colleagues to the interview, in case the candidates were put off by me interviewing them.”
Similarly, BBD business analyst Lerato Khabo shares: “I have experienced a few instances at previous workplaces where I was the only woman invited to a meeting and was asked to go and make tea. As women, we have to work harder than men. We need to learn to speak up for ourselves while producing excellent work to backup our claim.”
These stories are two of countless instances where women in tech have been undermined or treated in line with a perception rooted in bias, when the reality is that their presence on technical teams alone is confirmation of their ability to meaningfully contribute to a project – and not with morsels of hospitality like tea, but with hard-earned expertise that can take a solution from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’.
“But the statistics show…”
According to recent studies, code submitted by women is more often accepted compared to that of men. However, it happens only when they are not identifiable as women, as found in research from GitHub. After obtaining data from 1.4 million users, the researcher discovered that the acceptance rate of women’s code was 78.6% compared to 74.6% of those by men, but only when their profiles didn’t contain information on their gender. By comparison, when women did identify their gender, the rate dropped to 62%, revealing not only that code written by women is more likely to be approved by peers than code written by men, but that the tech community at large (where women only account for 19% of the workforce) is biased against women. And this reality has gone unchecked for so long that it has affected women in the industry and how they identify themselves in relation to their male counterparts.
“The gender gap in the industry can affect you in multiple ways. It can make you feel out of place,” says junior software engineer at BBD, Lauren Mitchell. "People's attitudes to women can come out even in the little comments or subtle ways in which they treat you. I've seen how badly this has impacted friends. I have also been told by more than one previous colleague (fortunately not at BBD) that they simply do not believe women should work in the technical field.”
Continue reading: https://www.itweb.co.za/content/KA3WwMdD3K8MrydZ
No, not all female professionals work in HR
“I remember the first few times I interviewed older male candidates who had applied for a job with BBD. I could always tell that they thought I was from HR and wondered when the boss was going to arrive so that we could begin the interview,” tells BBD executive, Charlene Cooke. “At first, I felt weird about it and made sure I invited some older male colleagues to the interview, in case the candidates were put off by me interviewing them.”
Similarly, BBD business analyst Lerato Khabo shares: “I have experienced a few instances at previous workplaces where I was the only woman invited to a meeting and was asked to go and make tea. As women, we have to work harder than men. We need to learn to speak up for ourselves while producing excellent work to backup our claim.”
These stories are two of countless instances where women in tech have been undermined or treated in line with a perception rooted in bias, when the reality is that their presence on technical teams alone is confirmation of their ability to meaningfully contribute to a project – and not with morsels of hospitality like tea, but with hard-earned expertise that can take a solution from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’.
“But the statistics show…”
According to recent studies, code submitted by women is more often accepted compared to that of men. However, it happens only when they are not identifiable as women, as found in research from GitHub. After obtaining data from 1.4 million users, the researcher discovered that the acceptance rate of women’s code was 78.6% compared to 74.6% of those by men, but only when their profiles didn’t contain information on their gender. By comparison, when women did identify their gender, the rate dropped to 62%, revealing not only that code written by women is more likely to be approved by peers than code written by men, but that the tech community at large (where women only account for 19% of the workforce) is biased against women. And this reality has gone unchecked for so long that it has affected women in the industry and how they identify themselves in relation to their male counterparts.
“The gender gap in the industry can affect you in multiple ways. It can make you feel out of place,” says junior software engineer at BBD, Lauren Mitchell. "People's attitudes to women can come out even in the little comments or subtle ways in which they treat you. I've seen how badly this has impacted friends. I have also been told by more than one previous colleague (fortunately not at BBD) that they simply do not believe women should work in the technical field.”
Continue reading: https://www.itweb.co.za/content/KA3WwMdD3K8MrydZ
