Women in Tech: Getting Women involved
Stuart Sumner London 03.04.18
While around 74% of women express a desire to study a STEM field at some point, this number
decreases the older the women surveyed get. In the UK, less than one tenth of Computer Science students are female. 1 In my Informatics department at University, there around 270 male students in my year and around 35 women. These statistics are even more worrying when looking at the skills shortage within technical roles. According to an Accenture survey, in 2015 “there were 500,000 new computing jobs to be filled but fewer than 40,000 new computer science graduates”. 2 The greatest ratio gap seems to lie in Computer Science. Originally, the subject was considered a women’s role with most typists being women. Computers were even advertised with women using them to show businesses that they were easy to use and required only low skilled operators. According to Hicks who wrote the book, ‘Programmed Inequality’, in WW2, jobs such as operating computers, gathering data and cracking codes were viewed as, “unskilled, highly feminised work” with women seen as, “an easy, tractable labour force for jobs that were critical and yet simultaneously devalued.” As people started to see the value in technology, the view of it as women’s work quickly changed. Women were phased out and men were given similar jobs with higher pay. 3 Unfortunately, the view of computers as a boy’s toy persists. Women face an unwelcoming environment in many online circles. From the online abuse and degradation rampant in gaming to casual harassment on social media. With the consistent increase in demand for technically skilled workers it is imperative to make tech welcoming for women. The wide-ranging sources of the problem are often over looked. Simply increasing quotas for companies to hire women doesn’t help if there are still so few studying the subject that could facilitate them to apply to technical roles. Thus, the problem needs to be addressed far earlier. Female students face constant questioning in their abilities. Even one of my teachers paused a programming a lesson to double check if I, specifically, understood the content as he, “understands women don’t have as logical minds”. I am constantly being told my degree is easier for me because apparently anyone will help a girl if they ask. The way we talk to women in the degree needs to change and the opportunity to learn coding needs to be available at every stage in education. It needs to be emphasised how easy it is to start, and the toxic environment of testing women to see if they’re interested enough in tech to be studying it or just pretending needs to end. Collective Equity Ownership Ltd. (CEO) is a secondary fund. We allow founders and shareholders of VC-backed companies to pool together their shares with other late-stage companies to diversify their portfolio. If you know any cool founders, or someone with a lot of VC experience, get in touch! We love meeting new people! ceo@collectiveequity.com |
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