Accenture’s Anju Bhagat shed light on some alarming data that suggests that the proportion of women in the tech workforce has declined despite an increase in the number of female tech workers employed today.
Bhagat, managing director for the communications, media and technology practice at Accenture, says this is tied directly to the fact that half of the women who take on a tech role drop it by the age of 35, compared to 20 per cent in other jobs. Women leave tech jobs at a 45 per cent higher rate than men. In higher education, women move away from tech majors at a higher rate compared to other majors.
Also, Bhagat highlights that while 45 percent of senior HR execs say that it is easy for women to thrive in tech, only 21 percent of women agree, and that number falls to just 8 percent for women of colour.
So what can we do to turn these disturbing stats around?
“While there are many reasons women abandon a career in technology, the highest percentage of respondents cite culture as the leading cause. On the other hand, university women who find themselves in inclusive learning environments tend to enjoy their majors, network more and are more likely to stick around in STEM,” Bhagat wrote.
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