What we need are more sisters doing IT for themselves

But it’s not happening. Despite the lucrative and flexible careers available in the growing technology sector, women account for just one in five of its workforce.

There are more damning statistics: Women in Technology research shows that 61 per cent of women surveyed had ten or more years of experience in the sector, yet only 26 per cent are either senior managers or directors, and only 3 per cent are board members. Three-quarters of women feel there is a “long-hours culture” in the industry and 41 per cent feel women are put off from entering the industry because of its “nerdy” image.

So women are scared of hard work and looking like a geek? Surely not.

I understand women want more females in top roles, but what do they want to be done about it? They’re clearly not doing enough themselves, and simply moaning in a questionnaire isn’t getting them anywhere.

Sticky Floors, a SWiT event held last week, aimed to address what women are doing unconsciously to hold back their careers.

Silka Patel, executive assistant at Cisco, who founded SWiT, says we need to think smart and use the power of what we create in IT to come up with innovative means to encourage women into the sector. She puts the low numbers down to a lack of visible role models within this industry.

For me, it’s more than that. We have to start asking the difficult questions, such as do we actually have enough talented women to take on the tough top roles? Do they really want to be high-flying IT techies or geeks? Are they simply looking for sexier jobs because the world of geekdom doesn’t entice?

Or are they actually being wise and thinking that IT doesn’t look or sound fun or rewarding, so focusing on something else that does?

I suspect the rest of the workplace just has to realise that some women relish those types of roles and actively seek them out, while others avoid them and turn their natural and academic talents to areas they do see as fun and rewarding.

Pushing, or encouraging if you prefer, women into career paths they wouldn’t naturally choose is dangerous. It’s like the recent obsession with creating initiatives to support women entrepreneurs to start and grow their own businesses. Women will do what they want, when they want to – I’m surprised this still hasn’t been recognised – so a woman who wants to start a high-growth business will do so, and a woman who wants to run a lifestyle business will do so.

But clearly something has to be done. Rab Campbell, deputy chairman of ScotlandIS, the trade body for the digital industry in Scotland, says if we can’t increase the proportion of women working in the industry, we are operating with one hand tied behind our back.

The government can’t fix it; quotas for women is a retrograde step. Fellow females as role models offering encouragement won’t really cut it either, as they can’t make the job more attractive or rewarding. So it’s down to employers.

It seems to me that employers have a serious job to do here. If they make a role more attractive – and I don’t mean financially – to women, then more women will apply.

According to Maggie Morrison, director for HP networking in the UK and based in Scotland, IT and tourism are identified as key growth areas over the next ten years. She agrees that employers need to step up: “Why would we not want to take advantage of these factors at a time when graduate unemployment is at an all-time high and the number of women who are unemployed is higher than at any time since 1988?”

If tech employers, or any employer for that matter, genuinely believe the statistics and want women at a senior level in their organisations, they will do something about it. The fact they haven’t, and the distinct lack of female talent at the top, speaks volumes.

I’m not convinced the argument is being made clearly enough, nor are the proposed solutions practical enough. They are certainly not happening quickly enough. “Inspiring”, “motivating” and “role models” are all too fluffy and intangible.