While workplace gender gap has improved dramatically in recent decades, women are still underrepresented in a number of occupations — a major one is the tech industry, with only 20 percent of the roles in tech being held by women. Many jobs in the tech industry from software developers to leadership have been largely dominated by men and in the movement towards creating a diverse future in tech, it is imperative that we look into creating a better work culture for women.
A report from the National Center for Women & Information Technology found that 51 percent of women say having children makes it harder to advance their career, 56% of women in the tech industry leave their jobs mid-career, and 33% of women left the tech industry because it did not allow enough flexibility for a healthy work-life balance. These are mind-boggling numbers that show there is still plenty of work to do if we want to see the gender gap in tech completely eliminated.
When we ask the question — what’s holding women back from tech jobs? The most frequent response we get is it seems that women are being *forced* to choose between family and work. An underlying cause could be paternal leave often too short to balance out family responsibilities, and this does not leave enough time for women to take on bigger roles. Women shouldn’t have to choose between their family or building a fulfilling career, they are two important things. In fact, many households depend on dual incomes to remain financially strong; families have kept up with inflation with two incomes making the home comfortable.
The Solution? A Flexible Working Environment
Technology goes beyond allowing us to check our emails on-the-go, it is also a tool in eliminating the need for traditional office space and creating a productive and digital workplace, giving women the ability to give their family and job appropriate attention.
From increasing productivity to using less ‘sick time’, the upsides to remote work are hard to ignore. It goes deeper than less commute and increased productivity, it empowers a woman who just had a baby to be able to return to work sooner than she would otherwise. Hence, we advocate for remote work to close the infamous gender gap in the tech industry.
“Remote working for women in tech would give women the flexibility to work at the levels they want to” — Ire Aderinokun.
Our Comms Lead, Efe, believes that remote work is the way to go! It creates opportunities regardless of geographical locations and the perks are also high for employers. Remote work reduces commute times for employees and fosters concentration so long as everyone is working toward specific goals and deliverables. When this is the case, all workers, not just women are happier and more productive, ultimately increasing employee retention.
We implore organizations to work towards adapting their structures to create a healthy work-life.
