Research by National Center for Women and Information Technology revealed that women occupy a low percentage of the workforce in Tech. A low representation of females in Tech can undermine a woman's potential to excel in the field; this also extends to the challenges they face in their field.
Some of the challenges women in tech face
Gender discrimination
A poll by the Pew Research Consult revealed that women in Tech companies suffer a lot of gender discrimination. It is appalling that gender discrimination is still very much around in Tech in this age. The report also extends this discrimination to companies selecting who to represent them in meetings and conferences.
Imbalance in Pay
Bloomberg Equality reports that in 2020, male job candidates in Tech were offered higher salaries than their female counterparts for the same role. That indicates that the gender wage gap is a reality that stares us in the face and needs a solution. Salaries for a job should be based on skills and competence, not gender. Gender has nothing to do with skill competence!
Lack of mentorship
A survey found that most tech industry women lack proper mentorship. Unlike men, who have many men to choose mentors from, women hardly find women counterparts who can mentor them in their field. This lack of mentorship is a cog in the wheel of progress for women in Tech. Mentorship makes the career journey more manageable; if women have little access to that, it will reflect how they progress in their careers.
The solutions to these challenges
Organizing a women-focused Tech boot camp.
The low percentage of women in Tech indicates that we need to train more women to enter the tech industry. There are organizations committed to doing this. The Bootcamps will motivate more women to join the Tech industry.
Encouragement for higher roles and Changing the Payment Structure
Getting women into the tech sector is not enough. Women should also have the chance to break the barrier and contest for higher roles through expertise. Gender is not what gets the job done but the skills, and if a woman is skilled enough, they shouldn’t be denied the right to lead a team because of their gender. Women should also be paid well as their male counterparts. If a woman is hired for the same role a man is, there should be no reason for a difference in their pay since their job description is the same—skills matter, not gender.
Mentorship
When some female respondents in a survey were asked to name someone that they look up to in tech, 83% could not call anyone, though when both genders were asked to name a famous man in tech, 66% could give a name, but when they were asked to name a prominent woman in tech only 22% could provide a name. That already shows a lack of mentorship and mentors for women in Tech. If indeed there is a need for women's inclusion in Tech, both at the lower cadres and leadership positions then mentorship has to be taken seriously.
Well, it doesn’t matter if you are a woman the Go Create USA Bootcamp is there to train you in UX Design, Product Design, or Agile Management, irrespective of your race or gender. Sign here to join the Fall Bootcamp waitlist.