Earlier this year, some of the globe's largest tech companies went public with their workforce diversity reports. The numbers were dismal.
Companies like Google, Intel, Cisco, Facebook and Apple commonly had a roughly 70 to 30 split, with the bulk of their workforce comprising male employees. When the numbers were further broken down to focus specifically on purely tech roles, excluding female representation in admin and human resource positions, for example, the situation gets worse. In many of these organisations, around 80% to 90% of tech roles are occupied by men.
These stats were highlighted by independent telecoms researcher and WomeninTechZA co-founder Samantha Perry at a WomeninTechZA and Silicon Cape networking event held at The Office, in Cape Town, last night. The local situation is no better, she went on to say. Only 23% of tech roles in South Africa are fulfilled by women.
"Why do we have this problem?" asked Perry, noting it is not because women are not qualified to do these jobs. According to the Department of Education, women made up 50% of enrolments in science, technology, engineering and maths qualifications in 2008. Most of these graduates enter the tech sector but soon leave the profession and move into other industries, she continued.
Not attractive
According to Perry, the industry is not attracting women for a number of reasons. "Partly the reason we are not attracting women to the sector is because there are so few women working in tech that new entrants struggle to find people to relate to," she said. "We also have a public image problem, which means that a lot of women just don't see career paths in tech." Perry also highlighted sexual harassment, unequal compensation and family responsibilities as incentives for women to leave the industry.
She outlined that the current diversity situation in this industry - be it along gender, racial or cultural lines - just doesn't make good business sense. "Diversity results in productivity and profit," said Perry. If a business accepts that half of their client base is female, can a predominantly male workforce really tap into what women want and develop products and services that successfully meet their clients' needs?
Perry's sentiments were echoed by Alexandra Fraser, CEO and founder of Stone Tree and a chairperson at The Silicon Cape Initiative. According to Fraser, research shows companies led by women are more capital-efficient and innovative. Women are competent leaders, powerful networkers and run results-driven organisations, she added. "The problem is that there are just not enough of us, particularly in the tech sector. The situation is dire."
Perry stressed that part of the responsibility lies with the women in the sector today. "If we are going to change the sector and attract more women, we need to start by watching what we do and how we do it. This may not be fair, but it is what it is."
WomeninTechZA was launched at the beginning of July. The site profiles local women in the technology sector across various roles, careers and seniority levels, with the aim of providing the industry with a platform that showcases where technology companies can find women to hire. "The idea is to showcase successful women in the industry and to demonstrate that this sector is not just made up of boring, middle-aged, white men in bad suits," joked Perry.
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