It is truly encouraging to see that progress is being made by women in the technology workforce. Both women and men enjoy near-equal career progression satisfaction, according to ISACA’s Tech Workplace and Culture survey of 7,726 technology professionals. The survey results show that 67% of women and 71% of men are satisfied with their career progression.
I am especially proud to inform readers that Singapore, my home country, continues to lead in representation of women in tech in Southeast Asia. Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), a government organization, produced a study to understand the disparity and identify potential solutions. In this study, 34% to 40% are women in tech from the Southeast Asia (SEA) region, with Singapore being at the higher range of 40%, topping the 11 SEA countries. The study also revealed that 48% of graduates with tech-related degrees in SEA are women, significantly higher than the global average (37%).
However, why the drop in actual women (less than 30%) in tech employment? The report seemed to relate this to the perception that many tech roles have limited progress to management and/or executive role, and many women will drop out or decide to switch to non-technical roles. The report noted that the top 50 multinational firms operating in SEA have only 8% women leaders from the tech & data function versus 70% in the human resource function.
Personally, as a SheLeadsTech champion with ISACA Singapore, I’ve observed that many women in tech or interested in tech are not fully aware of what this profession entails. Commonly trending roles are often cybersecurity-related, giving many interested people the wrong impression that only technical roles are available. While there have been cybersecurity awareness efforts with the public in recent years, none of the awareness is about the spectrum of technology work available, such as risk and operational roles. Examples used during awareness efforts are related to the current trending roles, giving a lopsided understanding of the profession.
Another challenge I have observed is that there is a shortage of female role models at the senior leadership level. When there is a lack of female senior leaders as role models, there also are fewer who can then become mentors. This is problematic, as 83% of respondents to the ISACA Tech Workplace and Culture research indicate that mentors are important, while only 22% report having a mentor.
Another challenge for women in the tech workforce is that, in the SEA region, there is a strong family culture in which women after working a few years may drop out of the workforce to focus on their families. I believe that with the evolution of flexible work arrangements, we can encourage more women who left the tech workforce to return to work much earlier.
Lastly, we should address the pipeline of women entering the tech workforce beginning with the education system. Starting from a young age is important as without a strong early pipeline, we will never achieve enough progress in attracting more women to the tech workforce.
Before I conclude this post, let’s not forget the men. Women need male allies to balance the equation, and many appear willing, as the majority of men surveyed in the ISACA research (58%) say gender-inclusive programs have a positive impact. If we can encourage more men to appreciate the diversity of the workforce, women get to benefit, too.
