According to The IT Job Board’s, latest European survey[1] findings, only one third (35%) of IT workers in Europe appear to be women. However the feeling within the IT community is that this is set to change. The survey highlighted that increasing numbers of women are entering the IT sector across Europe, and that 45% of women in the UK and Holland think this is set to increase.
The survey also found that 49% of women believe that working benefits and conditions in IT could be improved, and although there has been an increase in the number of women working in IT, 51% of women in the UK and 49% of women in Holland believe that working conditions are not equal for men and women. It seems that women in Belgium are struggling to find parity, 66% felt that working conditions favoured their male colleagues.
90% of women across Europe believe that women do IT jobs just as well as their male counterparts and 81% of women questioned believe that the industry should do more to encourage a mix of male and female employees in IT.
However in the UK, the phrase “boys club” was given by survey respondents on several occasions and it is clear that many women find it hard being a female in such a male dominated environment.
Other surprising statistics the survey showed were as follows:
· 49% of women in IT in the UK believe there are fewer opportunities open to them;
· 20% claimed it was not important to have a mix of men and women working in the industry; and
· 38% of women work in an IT department that has 1-3 women working in it.
[1] 618 surveyed on ‘Professional Networking’ in the UK March 2010
Commenting on the survey, Alex Farrell, managing director of The IT Job Board, said: “While the number of women in IT continues to grow, it seems that there still isn’t a level playing field. The dynamic needs to change in order to attract and nurture women to fulfil their potential. There is still a deep rooted “club for the boys” that will probably always exist, the question is whether this “club” has a future for the masses.”