Closing the Gender Gap in IT

A lire sur:  http://www.pmi.org/eNews/Post/2012_10-08/gender_gap.html

08 october 2012

Women are starting to impact the information technology industry, but the figures still show a wide gender gap. Surveys by Harvey Nash and Anita Borg Institute reported that 24 percent of tech teams have no women, 35 percent of organizations have no women IT managers and only four female CEOs lead Fortune 500 tech companies. Women can shatter the glass ceiling—witness Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Yahoo! So there are steps that women and their organizations can do to raise the number of women in IT as well as increase female leadership within the industry. Four Ways Women Can Succeed and Thrive in IT Get a Tech Degree Less than 20 percent of bachelor degrees in computer science in the United States go to women, according to federal statistics. National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) reports that between 2000 and 2011, there was a 79 percent decline in the number of first-year undergraduate women interested in majoring in computer science. Organizations find it difficult to recruit qualified women without the technology-related degree, but having the degree makes it easier for women to break into the tech field. Network with Female IT Leaders There are a number of forums you can use to meet women tech VIPs who can assist other women. These include the PMI Global Diversity and PMI IT and Telecom Communities of Practice, the Anita Borg Institute and the NCWIT. IBM encourages its female tech employees to use their network to refer other women for IT positions. The company estimates that almost 30 percent of the total professional women it hires worldwide come through these connections.  Speak Up and Get It Fixed “To succeed in IT as a woman, you have to be comfortable working with men,” said Gretchen Oris, a systems engineer at Klandra IT, an IT consulting firm in Melbourne, Australia. “Remember you are in that meeting for a reason. Your team is relying on your specific area of expertise. If you know how to fix the situation, speak up and get it fixed!” Rise to the Competition “I would like to say that women who want to get ahead don’t have to work harder than our male counterparts, but based on my experience, it would be a lie,” said Sona Venkat, an IT manager at at SAP, Washington, D.C., USA. “Be prepared to make sacrifices, put in extra hours, and prove yourself time and time again. That is simply the reality of the industry.” Four Ways Organizations Can Help Close the Gender Gap Recruit Young Women American Express and IBM are among the companies actively working to increase the number of women in IT. American Express has a leadership program that previews tech career opportunities, including project management. IBM targets young women with its Project View program, which allows applicants to spend two days at the company to consider career opportunities within a specific group. Foster Mentorship and Support Cisco offers employee resource groups for women to cultivate support and mentorship within the company. SAP America offers a mentoring program to connect high-performing female leaders with senior executives who share organizational knowledge and advice on professional development. At SAP, 45 percent of participants in the mentoring program have been promoted since the program began in 2011. Establish Hiring Policies to Encourage Diversity SAP uses structured interviewing techniques designed to discourage managers from simply hiring “those who are like us.” IBM holds managers accountable for recruiting women for technical posts. This system has led to a 600 percent increase in women in leadership positions in the past 20 years worldwide. Provide Training to Reach the Top In 2011 SAP America committed to increasing the number of women in management positions from 18 percent to 25 percent by 2017. “We have key performance indicators in place to increase women in management by 1 percent each year for the next five years,” said Brigette McInnis-Day, vice president, human resources, SAP North America. Although figures show a current male domination in the industry, organizations and individuals are taking action to close the gap. This should change the statistics and make IT a more “balanced” field. Read the full Career Central article about women in the IT industry.