Diversify Tech

One of the main causes for the gender gap in the tech industry is due to STEM education (or lack thereof). Research shows that more than half of the bachelor's degrees awarded are to females, but only around 20% of them pursue computer science, engineering and other STEM programs. This is in no way an indication that females lack STEM-related skills as it is seen that girls in high schools are matching or exceeding the achievements of their male classmates. According to an Invanti blog post, “statistically the change occurs at the college level. The implicit bias that science and math fields are for people who identify as males and humanities and arts fields are for people who identify as females persists to this day, even among those who would like to think they reject gendered stereotypes.” 

According to Iron Hack, we can equate the lack of women in STEM to these three causes: a lack of self-confidence, stereotypes of tech workers, and a male-dominated culture. These 2020 statistics help highlight the severity of this gap: 

• Women made up just 16% of bachelor degree recipients in computer and information services, 21% in engineering, 27% in economics, and 38% in physical sciences. 

• Women hold less than 20% of tech leadership roles.

• Only 19% of senior vice presidents and 15% of CEOs are women.

• 39% of women in tech see gender bias as a hindrance to getting a promotion.

• 34% of Apple’s employees are female but only 24% of their technical roles are held by women. 

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, women were nearly twice as likely to either leave their jobs, be furloughed, or be fired. 

Another cause for the gender gap stems from sexism and gender discrimination. Sexism basically means that there is a belief that on sex or gender is superior to another, and gender discrimination suggests that someone is discriminated against because of their gender identity. Society plays a huge role in gender stereotypes as there are certain expectations for both males and females, in terms of career choice. 

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Sapna Cheryan, a psychologist at the University of Washington, discovered that stereotypes of the typical computer scientist hamper women’s interest in pursuing the major. She found that women feel disidentification due to the nerd stereotypes associated with programming.

Describing a computer science activity as something that “girls are less interested in than boys are” caused girls to feel a lower sense of belonging with that activity and made them significantly less likely to choose it. When the computer science activity was not marked with a gender stereotype, girls and boys were equally interested in it.