International Women’s Day & Tech: Move Beyond the Conversation
It’s a day to celebrate women and the strides they’ve made, but also focus on the work yet to be done.
March 9, 2021
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New research from TrustRadius shows that women in tech have been impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of burnout, they’re facing more of the negative impacts of this crisis than their male peers.
Fifty-seven percent of the women surveyed feel more burned out at work due to the pandemic. In comparison, only 36% of men feel the same.
That’s not all. Forty-three percent of the women surveyed have taken on extra responsibilities at work, compared to only 33% of men. A greater proportion of women have taken on a greater childcare burden — 29% of women, compared to 19% of men.
The research also revealed that women in tech are twice as likely as men to have lost their jobs or been furloughed due to the pandemic. The New York Times actually dug into this trend. It found that 1.2 million American parents have had to leave the workforce in the past year. A whopping 900,000 of those were women — meaning women are three times as likely as men to have left the workforce.
When TrustRadius surveyed their community back in June 2020, 85% of tech professionals felt that their companies had done a good job of handling the pandemic. It is clear now that some of the tradeoffs companies had to make had a much larger impact on women.
The inequalities women face are industry-wide. It’s hard to blame specific companies because this issue is much broader in scale. In fact, it’s not just an industry issue. It’s an issue with the holistic way women are impacted by responsibilities at work and at home.
Inequality rarely exists in a vacuum. TrustRadius’ research shows that the inequality women experience at work is compounded by the inequality they often face at home.
Forty-two percent of women in tech say they took on most of the household work during the pandemic, compared to only 11% of men. Men in the tech industry were far more likely to have their partners take on the majority of household work or to share it evenly.
This shows that women were almost three times as likely to take on most of the household work during the pandemic. The men surveyed recognized this pattern too. A large percentage of men in tech admitted that their partner or co-parent took on more household labor during this time.
It’s no secret that jobs in the tech industry can be demanding. But tech positions often offer flexible scheduling and the ability to work from home. This may make it easier for tech professionals to take on household work compared to those in health care, construction or retail. It’s stressful to take a Zoom meeting with a child on your lap, but it’s possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the amount of work needed at home. Since women already did the vast majority of that work, they now face a greater burden. There’s more work to be done, and women are doing more of it.
In a previous study, TrustRadius found that many tech workers feel more productive working from home. Fifty-seven percent of tech professionals said they were more productive, and only 17% felt less productive.
How did this change affect women in the industry? Does working remotely give women a more equal footing at tech companies? Or does it limit their opportunities in some way?
When TrustRadius asked if remote working has helped or hindered women in tech, women were evenly split. On the other hand, men are twice as likely to believe remote working has had a positive impact on women.
Why are women so divided on this issue?
One survey respondent thinks that depends on who cares for children at home:
“I think COVID-19 has put a new spotlight on the workload for working parents, but especially working mothers, because they are expected to take care of the kids and their jobs. I think the best thing to come out of the last year is the awareness this has created and the flexibility and understanding it has offered to allow people to be parents, mothers and then workers.” — Anonymous, Individual Contributor in Customer Service
Women in different departments have also had very different work-from-home experiences.
Fifty-three percent of women in engineering and IT say that remote work has been positive for women in tech. But that percentage decreases across women in sales, marketing, and customer service.
Women in tech have to manage a greater amount of household work, which limits the energy they can put into hitting those numbers. The deteriorating boundary between work and home can mean working overtime at both.
Seniority also has an impact on how people perceive remote work. The study found that men in leadership positions are more likely to see the shift to remote work as a positive for women in tech. Women in leadership positions are more likely to see a negative impact.
This may be due to an increased focus on results, which could be viewed by male leadership as equalizing the playing field. Women in leadership positions may experience the pandemic overload firsthand and may have a different view.
Seventy-two percent of women in tech have worked at a company where “bro culture” is pervasive. This is about the same as last year when 71% of women reported experiencing bro culture.
Only 41% of men say the same. Safe to say that this discrepancy points to a pretty sizable difference in perception.
It’s worth noting that bro culture manifests in a lot of different ways across the tech industry. Men and women perceive that culture very differently. TrustRadius also found that the pervasiveness of bro culture varies by department. Eighty-three percent of women in sales and 80% of women in marketing experience this issue in 2021.
In comparison, 63% of women in engineering and IT have experienced pervasive bro culture. This is considerably less than in other departments, but still far too high.
The research also uncovered an age-related trend. The data indicates that millennial and Gen Z women may be less likely to have experienced bro culture than older women. This could be a sign of genuine progress in the last decade.
The other explanation is that boomer and Gen X women have simply worked more jobs. This means more chances to experience sexist workplace culture. Hopefully we will see those Gen Z and millennial numbers stay the same in the future.
This is an important one to highlight. While we have indeed seen some progress toward gender equality in the tech industry over the past decade, women are still vastly outnumbered by men.
In 2021, 72% of women in tech are outnumbered by men in business meetings by at least a two-to-one ratio. Even further digging shows that 26% of women report being outnumbered by five to one or more in most meetings. Interestingly, a good majority of men agree with this observation.
This lines up with self-reported research from the largest tech companies in America. There, female employees make up between 28% (Microsoft) and 42% (Amazon) of the total workforce.
The science is clear here. Having so few women at the table leads to the silencing of women. Lack of representation leads to other challenges for women in tech as well. It limits their opportunities for mentorship and sponsorship. It fosters unconscious gender bias in company culture. And it leaves many women without a clear path forward. Underrepresentation underlies many of the inequalities covered in TrustRadius’ report.
According to TrustRadius, women are more likely than men to feel that they have to work harder than their coworkers to prove their worth.
In fact, 78% of women feel like they have to work harder to prove their worth at work. Only 54% of men say the same.
Across all job levels, women feel more pressure to prove themselves. But the phenomenon is even more pronounced among those in leadership positions. Women who are VPs, C-level, or CEOs are especially likely to feel this pressure. For men, the opposite is true.
Last year, TrustRadius found that women were 22% more likely than men to experience imposter syndrome at work. Imposter syndrome is the feeling of being underqualified and out of place compared to your colleagues. As a result, some women put in extra work or extra hours to compensate.
There’s another way to look at the relationship between imposter syndrome and needing to prove your worth. Even women who are perfectly confident in their abilities can experience the pressure to outperform their male coworkers in order to earn equal recognition and opportunities.
Lack of trust in their abilities from managers and executives — and seeing no clear path forward — are major concerns for women struggling to grow their careers in the tech industry.
Only 25% of executive or senior-level officials and managers at S&P 500 companies are women. Less than 5% of those companies have women CEOs.
Women in tech see plenty of reasons for this difference. Barriers to promotion are a major contributing factor. This is known as the “broken rung” phenomenon — a missing step on the career ladder for women on the way to leadership.
In 2021, women in tech are four times more likely than men to see gender bias as an obstacle to promotion. Nearly two in five women felt that their gender was a barrier to being considered for their next promotion.
There are several other issues that women in tech face when it comes to promotion:
Sixty-six percent of women felt there was no clear path forward for them at their current company.
Forty-one percent identified the lack of a mentor as an obstacle to promotion.
Thirty-nine percent cited limited budget as a major problem.
Twenty-nine percent of women felt there was a lack of trust in their ability.
Another sobering finding is that among respondents who identify as Asian, Latino, Black, American Indian, Pacific Islander or “Other,” nearly two in five women (37%) see their race as a barrier to getting promoted. Women of color are also more likely than their white peers to identify gender bias, lack of trust, and budget issues as obstacles.
Despite these realities, the data highlights an inspiring truth. Sixty-two percent of all women respondents feel confident that they will earn a promotion within the next two years. However, there is the racial divide to consider when thinking about this.
Women of color are 27% less confident in their promotion prospects than white women. This is nearly three times the difference from last year when women of color felt 10% less confident.
Another important note: Of the women of color who doubt their promotion prospects, 35% say that it’s because their companies don’t trust their abilities.
These findings highlight the importance of looking at gender equality in the workplace through an intersectional lens. They also show that the challenges of this year have caused unequal impacts along racial lines.
Unfortunately, in a year of crisis, we have not seen much progress to greater equality. More than half of both men and women said gender equality stayed the same in their workplaces.
Some women are seeing backsliding, perhaps as a direct result of the pandemic. Women are twice more likely than men to say gender inequality got worse at their company in 2020.
The status quo is unequal and unacceptable, and some did see progress in 2020. Forty-one percent of men say gender equality has improved in their workplace. Women are decidedly less favorable, with just 28% saying things have improved.
While holding steady against new challenges could be seen as a form of progress, it’s not enough. We must continue to address the challenges that impact women unequally.
Leadership positions are still problematically male-dominated. It is concerning to see that those in leadership felt even more doubtful of progress. Across men and women, only 24% of executives felt things had improved, and 22% said things have gotten worse. Executives possess a unique ability to make change. If leaders are less than optimistic about the state of affairs, they need to be bold to create change.
Weber Shandwick research shows that C-level executives think we will reach gender equality in leadership by 2030. Despite this, 56% of those executives said their companies had no plan in place for doing so. It’s troubling when people who have the power to make change think progress will happen without taking action.
According to research pulled together by NordLocker, there is a huge case for why we need more gender diversity in the tech industry. Here are a few of those reasons:
Diverse businesses are more likely to outperform less diverse companies on profitability, McKinsey’s report found. The report also reveals that the greater the gender representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. When an organization performs better overall, its success translates into greater talent acquisition, more engaged employees, increased profits and/or investments, and progress in general.
Women have more purchasing power. Although women drive the majority of consumer spending, they are still often missing in action when it comes to product design and development. Women are strong tech and social media users, but these products are still overwhelmingly built by men. “Diversity enables tech companies to create products that take everyone into consideration, not just one section of society,” Aiste Araminaite-Pivore from NordLocker explains. “Including women in creating a tech product can lead to a better user experience and successful innovations, which, as we all know, generate stronger sales.”
Help to close the wage gap faster. Pay inequity might be one of the major turnoffs that keeps women from entering tech. However, statistics show that the gap is narrowing. Getting more women in tech can mean closing the pay gap faster. How? Tech jobs pay more, and the starting salaries for entry-level positions are higher than for jobs in other sectors of the economy.
Women bring unique ideas to the table. Gender diversity presents different skills, talents and creativity, which are critical for the development of tech products and solutions. “From my 14 years of experience in IT, I can confirm that women and men see problems differently, but they complement each other very well in the working environment,” says Araminaite-Pivore. “A contrasting approach and diversity of viewpoints make any organization benefit, as it’s likely that no blind spots are left overlooked.”
Female employees bring more balance to the workplace. Gender equality isn’t just good for women — it’s good for everyone. “What I noticed at NordLocker when we have a discussion regarding, let’s say, a new feature, the debate is less fierce, and we always manage to reach a more considerate conclusion when female staff is present. My practice shows that females have the power to stabilize heated conversations,” says Aiste Araminaite-Pivore. “What I’ve also noticed is that women can usually multiprocess better than their male counterparts, which is critical in tech. I couldn’t imagine my team without the quality of multiprocessing.”
According to research pulled together by NordLocker, there is a huge case for why we need more gender diversity in the tech industry. Here are a few of those reasons:
Diverse businesses are more likely to outperform less diverse companies on profitability, McKinsey’s report found. The report also reveals that the greater the gender representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. When an organization performs better overall, its success translates into greater talent acquisition, more engaged employees, increased profits and/or investments, and progress in general.
Women have more purchasing power. Although women drive the majority of consumer spending, they are still often missing in action when it comes to product design and development. Women are strong tech and social media users, but these products are still overwhelmingly built by men. “Diversity enables tech companies to create products that take everyone into consideration, not just one section of society,” Aiste Araminaite-Pivore from NordLocker explains. “Including women in creating a tech product can lead to a better user experience and successful innovations, which, as we all know, generate stronger sales.”
Help to close the wage gap faster. Pay inequity might be one of the major turnoffs that keeps women from entering tech. However, statistics show that the gap is narrowing. Getting more women in tech can mean closing the pay gap faster. How? Tech jobs pay more, and the starting salaries for entry-level positions are higher than for jobs in other sectors of the economy.
Women bring unique ideas to the table. Gender diversity presents different skills, talents and creativity, which are critical for the development of tech products and solutions. “From my 14 years of experience in IT, I can confirm that women and men see problems differently, but they complement each other very well in the working environment,” says Araminaite-Pivore. “A contrasting approach and diversity of viewpoints make any organization benefit, as it’s likely that no blind spots are left overlooked.”
Female employees bring more balance to the workplace. Gender equality isn’t just good for women — it’s good for everyone. “What I noticed at NordLocker when we have a discussion regarding, let’s say, a new feature, the debate is less fierce, and we always manage to reach a more considerate conclusion when female staff is present. My practice shows that females have the power to stabilize heated conversations,” says Aiste Araminaite-Pivore. “What I’ve also noticed is that women can usually multiprocess better than their male counterparts, which is critical in tech. I couldn’t imagine my team without the quality of multiprocessing.”
Happy International Women’s Day, fellow females in tech! It’s no secret that women in this industry face some pretty steep challenges in 2021. Women make up almost half of the total work force, but they only hold 25% of the roles in technology.
The tech industry is certainly one of the biggest job markets and one of the largest workforces in the world. And yet, women are still largely underrepresented. According to a recent report by Entelo, women represent only 19% of the worldwide tech workforce in entry- and mid-level roles. At the senior level, women hold 16% of positions and only 10% of positions at the executive level.
So, how can we bring women into tech organizations? Better yet, how do help them stay and grow in order to achieve leadership roles? How do we ensure equality in tech organizations?
Gender Representation
Sarah Rich, vice president of operations and customer success at Supplyframe, was the first employee the company hired and shared her insights on the changes in the industry with regards to gender representation.
Supplyframe’s Sarah Rich
“My entire career has centered around helping make my customers successful and driving business process improvements,” shares Rich. “My responsibilities always start with building long-lasting partnerships while effectively challenging the status quo to motivate change. Much of what I do day-to-day is powered by my experience as a woman in a male-dominated field.”
Rich goes on to say that breaking molds and effecting progress has been an inherent goal for her and all women in this evolving field. For companies to survive the thrust of true digital transformation, it’s imperative to have a well-rounded vision that is inclusive of all aspects of the future, both in people and technology resources.
“I’m thrilled to see more females in leadership roles as I firmly believe that diversity in perspective will be key to creating opportunity while maintaining resiliency,” says Rich.
Moving Beyond the Conversation
Kathryn Rose, founder of wiseHer, echoes the sentiment that it is a particularly challenging time for women — in the industry and in the broader sense.
wiseHer’s Kathryn Rose
“We have to do a better job at being intentional. Not just about diversity in general, but also understanding that businesses are better off because of it,” says Rose. “We need to be better at getting women into tech, but then also keeping them there. It’s not enough to say, ‘We have a women’s employee resource groups (ERGs),” or have women on panels.’ We need to normalize paying them, for example. There’s a lot of conversation around the different facets of diversity and inclusion. But it’s not enough to just say it. We must move beyond the conversation and put it into practice. It’s not easy, but the will has to be there.”
The Path Forward
Janet Schijns, CEO of JS Group, offered her insights on International Women’s Day in terms of the work that has yet to be done.
JS Group’s Janet Schijns
“International Women’s Day always brings about an equal mix of joy and worry. These are tightly intermingled and difficult to separate,” says Schijns. “Joy because we are celebrating the great women in our industry, our community and our world. Worry because there aren’t more of us and we continue to experience issues that hold us back.
“This past year has been no exception. I have celebrated with my fellow women in the channel as we figured out how to work from home, educate children, manage remote elderly relatives and still have a vibrant career and felt the sheer joy in their achievements. But I have also lamented the loss of a positive trajectory for women in business and in the industry. More and more women are forced to make the decision to slow down their careers, or even stop working. Lately, this is primarily in response to their families’ need for care during these difficult COVID times. It’s clear that we still have a long way to go.”
Schijns adds that this year, more than ever, we need to find new ways to support women and to stand up and help wherever we can. Additionally, the industry as a whole has been moving in a more “woke” direction in recent years. But as Schijns articulates, there is still some work to do.
Inspiring Real Change
It’s time to take a stand for women in tech. In honor of International Women’s Day, we touch on various important points of research from TrustRadius and NordLocker. Click through our slideshow above to get a sense of the issues and spots of light that are crucial for raising awareness and inspiring real change.
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