The problems that women who work in the technology sector have to advance in their careers they are still present. What’s more, the gap between genders among professionals in the sector does not stop growing, and there is a notable shortage of women in leadership positionseven though according to Skillsoft Women in Tech 2023 report Leadership and management have become one of the most prominent areas of interest for women working in technology.
Of IT professionals with more than 26 years of experience, 15% of men hold management positions, while only 4% of women hold them. In addition, 45% of the women who participated in the survey used to prepare the report are in a minority at work. Thus, in their companies there are four times as many men as women, or even more. It is a considerable increase in women to whom this happens compared to those who experienced this situation in 2021. So 25% were in this situation.
On the other hand, women working in IT are increasingly less satisfied with their jobs, due to their lack of growth potential. This is leading to 36% considering changing jobs due to the lack of equal opportunities. So it seems that despite the efforts made to increase equality, diversity and inclusion in the technology sector, progress for women has not only stalled, but appears to be regressing.
Fortunately, access to professional development and training is improving for women in IT. It has gone from 42% in 2021 to 61% in 2023. This gives them the opportunity not only to improve their technical skills, but also those considered soft skills: communication, collaboration and decision-making. These will help them to advance in their career and become leaders, giving them the possibility of occupying better positions.
But in addition to training opportunities, women in the tech sector need mentors to help advance their careers, many experts say. They are also aware of this, because 82% of the study participants indicated that mentoring and having career counselors is very or extremely important to them. But only 34% have access to them through their organizations.
Despite the obstacles they face, women who work in technology are very committed to improving their skills to climb the ranks. In fact, they are obtaining titles and certifications in leadership, management, project management or agile and scrum methodologies, among others.
In addition, they are also very interested in various technology priority areassuch as analytics, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and cybersecurity. And they are using them to gain responsibility and get promotions and new jobs. In view of all this, the ball for them to move forward is in the court of companies and organizations.
