09 February 2018

There is still much work to do in creating gender equality in the IT sector, says Search director Donna Turner.

The gender gap is still not closing quickly enough in the technology sector, according to Search Consultancy.

After analysing 10 years worth of data collected related to placements made between January 2007 and December 2017, the recruitment firm found that women are still struggling to break through into the traditionally male-dominated industry.

Search discovered that women made up 13.6 per cent of all workers put into IT roles in 2007. According to its study, this figure climbed by only 1.8 per cent in 10 years to reach 15.4 per cent in 2017.

Looking at the specific roles women are securing, the firm believes there is still a long way to go to levelling the playing field. For instance, it says that in 2007, only nine per cent of manager/leader positions were obtained by women; for 2017, that figure stands at just 14.8 per cent. Other key data showed that 10 per cent of all developer roles went to women in 2007 and grew to just 14.8 per cent 10 years later.

On a more optimistic note, year-on-year comparisons across the same period from 2016 to 2017 saw an increase in female appointments into director roles. In fact, Search says that nearly a quarter of directors (22.2 per cent) it placed were women, a rise from zero in 2016.

“It’s clear from the research there is still much work to do in creating some gender balance within the IT sector,” says Donna Turner, Search’s director of IT recruitment in Scotland. “We have to accept that, for whatever reason, it is predominantly men who are attracted to the IT sector, and that is reflected in the data. It is incumbent on schools and businesses to do more to make the sector a more attractive option for women.”