IT Industry set
to suffer from a lack of female
graduates.
At the end of June 2011, the UK University
application service UCAS revealed that 378,138 women have applied
for a place at University this year, compared to 291,818 men.
The statistics also revealed that 60,219
prospective students have applied to study Computer Science with
12,023 seeking to take Technology courses.
But according to the e-skills 2011 UK report
‘Technology Insights’ only 9% of students studying A-level
Computing and 15% of those reading the subject at university are
female.
In March 2011 the IT Job Board marked the
100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day to raise
awareness of the lack of women working within the IT sector.
The UK’s largest IT job site did so by
publishing some shocking findings about the industry and revealed
that only 16% of all IT job seekers are women.
The Chartered Institute for IT also recently
revealed that Just 14.4 per cent of IT professionals in the UK are
women and one in four IT service delivery employees are female.
Bob Clift, Head of Higher Education Programmes
at e-skills, explained one of the reasons behind the shortage,
“What a lot of women don’t realise is that most IT roles are
business focused and are equally applicable to professionals of
either sex. The problem the industry still faces, is the common
perception that IT roles are reserved for ‘geeky’ men but this
couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Helping women to understand the nature and
importance of the industry from an early age may be the first
stepping-stone towards a strong female presence in the IT
workforce.
Gone are the days when IT professionals were
confined to back office rooms segregated from the rest of an
organization. IT employees are often required to interact with
colleagues within all departments at all levels, very much at the
forefront of business.
The sector also underpins the productivity of
every other industry and in 2010 the IT industry contributed £81
billion to the UK’s total GVA.
Due to the significance of the sector IT
professionals are rewarded with accelerated career progression and
substantial salaries.
IT professionals are also in high demand and
according to the e-skills report, over 550,000 IT roles will be
available over the next five years.
However the general consensus among IT
employers is that these figures will lead to employment
difficulties within the sector.
In the third quarter of 2010, the number of
jobs advertised within the sector jumped to 101,000, while the
number of IT professionals seeking work fell to 100,000.
Chief Operating Officer at the UK’s largest IT
graduate
employer FDM explains, “A major crisis within the IT industry
is the IT skills shortage. At FDM we aim to overcome this dilemma
by bridging the gap between University and employment for
graduates. However without the inclusion of women within the sector
it is inevitable that the industry and therefore the rest of the
economy will suffer.”
The overwhelming concern among the industry is
the fact that many women may believe that they are not naturally
geared towards a role within IT the sector, despite the fact that
the first developer, Ada Lovelace, was female.
Early childhood perceptions may be the root of
the cause, as the findings of a survey conducted by Ofsted in April
2011 found that girls in secondary education held conventionally
stereotypical views about their access to future careers.
Within her speech on International Women’s
Day, European Commission vice president for the Digital Agenda,
Neelie Kroes pointed to the importance of strong female role models
within the ICT “hall of fame”. She emphasised that the use of such
figures would inspire women to branch into the sector and point to
“a sign of balance in the sector.”
FDM believes very strongly in challenging
common stereotypes and leading by example by celebrating its own
female role models.
The most important testament to the company’s
belief in female talent is its inclusion of six women on its
Management Board, which creates a majority of over 50%.
And with phenomenal international achievements
as the 11th fastest growing company in Europe, the
female majority across its board further highlights the importance
of women within the sector.
Sheila Flavell adds, “To hold a female
majority on any managerial board is unusual but within the IT
sector it is almost unheard of. We believe our recent achievements
under this board emphasise just how important a strong female
presence within the IT industry is to the future of the
sector.”
FDM reaches out to women through its dedicated
events team and visits 120 UK universities on a regular basis. The
company also attended the British Computing Society Women Lovelace
Colloquium in April this year and is openly dedicated to recruiting
more female candidates.
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