The presence of women in the technology sector has increased in recent years, however, has it done so significantly? The answer is no. Yes, it is true, that just a few decades ago, women who enrolled in technological careers, who work in companies in the sector or who ran this type of organization, could be counted on the fingers of one hand, especially in Spain. The situation has changed although it is far from achieving equality with the male gender.
According to data from AMETIC, the employers’ association for the digital technology industry sector, the presence of women in STEM disciplines, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, remains low. AMETIC considers the progress insufficient, in fact in 1999 the female presence in IT was 33%, two decades later this percentage has only increased to 37.4%.
While in the education sector, the male presence is overwhelming compared to that of women, with only 36% representation in some of the technological branches. The percentage is even lower in computer and electrical engineering.
But this casuistry does not only occur in Spain, the presence of women in the international technology sector does not differ too much either. Only in Europe, there are up to four times more men than women with ICT studies, according to data from the European Commission itself. While, according to UNESCO, women only represent 35% of the total number of students enrolled in the STEM area.
However, there are companies in the sector that fight to increase the presence of women among their students, among teachers and management positions. as is the case of the online technological school Tokio Schoolwhich is part of Northius, a leading multinational digital education platform in Spain.
“Such relevant positions within Tokio School such as the management of the video game or cybersecurity area are held by Noelia Dosil and Noelia Ares, two leading women in their sector,” says Leticia García, editorial coordinator of Tokio School. They also have Patricia Da Silva for student management and editorial coordination, and Valentina Bouzada as manager of the e-learning platform and the Tokyo telepresence. “The presence of women in the educational and management faculty of the school is an impulse to attract more female students and, above all, it helps women to detect that they have a space in this sector”, she adds.
Despite the still low number of female students in ICT disciplines, they do offer high performance in terms of qualifications. In fact, according to the La Caixa Foundation, women offer high performance with a pass rate of 88% of all subjects. In addition, the female percentage in dropout rates in face-to-face teaching is very low, even between 2 and 6% lower than the male group.
As for the final grades, men obtain a better average grade on their record in careers related to mathematics. While women stand out in the various branches of engineering and architecture.
Women in technology management positions
There is no doubt that in recent years, the number of women who are directors in the area of Technology and Telecommunications has increased. According to a study by Fedea, and carried out with data from the CNMV, women represent 8% and have reached up to 12% of management.
Specifically, in the departments that have more women in management are Financial and Real Estate Services and Basic Materials, Industry and Construction. Also, Infoempleo states that 10 Spanish subsidiaries of technological multinationals are run by women: Microsoft, HP, IBM, Siemens, Google, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, eBay and NetApp. Despite these data, the presence of women continues to be a minority.
The problem is not the lack of hiring, but that women decide to leave their jobs for Lack of motivation and promotions. Consequently, STEM Women Congress emphasizes that women have fewer resources to proceed with their research. This organization states that most institutions support women by providing facilities. But at the time of counting, only 8% of the agencies supported gender equality with minimum requirements and 16% had general policies focused on diversity.
