The Hollywood hills are ablaze with change. As new allegations surface each day, the true power structure of the film industry is being poured out for all to see – and with it, revelations about other industries and workplaces. For women in tech, this spotlight has been a long time coming.

 

Silicon Valley: for many, it’s the birthplace of the future, where engineers and software developers have been assured a role in shaping society for generations to come. For others, however, it’s a place where a male-centric internal culture has brought any lofty dreams of an enlightened social awareness alongside new technology crashing down.

Deep within the likes of Tesla and Google, power structures have been built which have infamously seen women working the same job being paid less, promotions passing over female employees, and even overt sexual harassment in the workplace. Despite building a better future, it seems Silicon Valley’s culture is firmly rooted in the past.

 

Is the UK Doing Any Better?

Away from the shores of our American cousins, we too see a huge imbalance in female representation within the tech sector. Talks are often overseen by panels featuring exclusively male professionals, with the occasional female thrown in for good measure. Meanwhile, the gender pay gap within tech continues to be an elephant in the room, with women earning on average 16% less than their male counterparts.

The divide – both between pay and between the sexes themselves – is telling of another issue: women simply aren’t in positions of influence, despite being more than qualified to be there. Sopra Banking Software’s research into the issue highlighted this perfectly. They found that 70% of UK women with STEM qualifications aren’t working in compatible fields. So, why aren’t they? And if they are, why are they not in higher positions?

 

Keeping Women Away

The research showed that a staggering 38% felt that gender discrimination was holding back their professional growth, whilst 60% said they avoided such positions due to the stress and pressure involved. Meanwhile, research by advisory group Korn Ferry Hay Group has led to calls for tech firms to change how they recruit and progress female employees. Speaking on behalf of the group, Ben Frost said that the tech sector is “admired for encouraging innovation at work and fostering flexible working processes”, yet it must “do more to institutionalise a culture where women can thrive.”

Further adding to this, Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates, pointed out that the gender pay gap was “a challenge the tech sector still hasn’t found an answer to.” Adding reason to why tech should diversify, he added “diverse work forces encourage innovation, revenue growth and product quality.”

 

Championing Women in Tech

Although there is clearly still a long way to go in terms of gender parity within tech, there are still some rays of hope with which we can cling to with both hands. ComputerWeekly’s annual Most Influential Women in UK Tech longlist, for example, shares the names and achievements of women in the sector who deserve to be celebrated.

Meanwhile, TechWorld recently released a list of 343 women in the UK who could speak at upcoming tech events in an effort to foster some more diversity amongst panels and conferences. Closer to home, Manchester-based projects such as Girls in Tech offer events and programmes to encourage women to enter and progress through the tech world.

 

Now is the Time

Despite all the good stuff, tech still needs to do better. In the wake of Hollywood’s reckoning – and the fallout across multiple industries and workplaces that followed – tech firms of all shapes and sizes must ask themselves some tough questions: are they doing enough to encourage women into the industry? Are they supporting them as much as their male counterparts? Is there a pay gap to address within the company?

In tech, the time for thinking about the problem is long over; now the sector must act decisively for its own sake, and for the sake of those working within it.

 

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