Innovation

Put down the Louboutins, it's time for IT

Empowering the IT landscape, one pair of heels at a time.

13 August 2018

When it comes to equality and breaking the gender gap, the statistics in the IT industry remain starkly devoid of any good news on that front. The PwC Women in Tech report found that only five percent of leadership positions in the technology sector are held by women. The same report found that 78% of students can’t name a famous woman in technology, so it’s hardly surprising that only three percent of women opt into the field. The lack of role models is significant. Many women are put off by a career in technology as they find it too male-dominated. Sounds feeble as excuses go? The flurry of sexual harassment cases and suspicious corporate resignations currently littering the global landscape should stand testament to this being a genuine concern.

The lack of women in the industry is also driven by the language used in said industry. A paper released by postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Alison Wynn, and her professor Shelley Correll, found that technology companies start alienating women from the moment they start presenting to them. Sexist jokes, male-dominated imagery, male-relevant language – all these qualities leave women cold. And these are only some of the statistics that lurk darkly within IT.

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