Women In Technology - Friday Links - 09/09/2022
Dear all,
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for a helping of WIT Friday Links!
Some stats to ponder (source Zippia.com)
* In 1984, 35% of tech roles were held by women. In 2018, 32% were.
The number of women in these jobs has increased by over two million in this same time frame, but gender ratios have not evened out or even improved over those 34 years.
This is after women made up the vast majority of the computer science workforce during World War II and throughout the 1960s.
* 74% of girls express a desire for a STEM career.
* 39% of women in tech say that they see gender bias as an obstacle to getting a promotion.
* Women in tech were almost twice as likely as men in the same industry to leave their jobs, be laid off, or furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
* 50% of women who take a role in tech drop out of the industry by the age of 35.
In other fields, this number is only 20%. In universities, 37% of women in tech classes drop out, while only 30% do across all degree programs.
All this results in women leaving tech roles at a 45% higher rate than men do.
There are multiple reasons why women say they leave the industry: 37% say poor company culture, 31% say dissatisfaction with their particular job, 22% say they’re interested in a different role outside of the tech industry, and 10% say a lack of diversity in the workplace.
* In 2020, 79% of women in tech said they’d experienced imposter syndrome at work, while only 65% of men reported feeling this way about their professional lives.
This continues to track into 2021 when 78% of women reported that they occasionally feel they have to work harder than their coworkers to prove their worth, while only 54% of men in tech said they felt they needed to work harder.
* 57% of women in tech say they feel burned out at work, while only 36% of men say they do.
There are many factors that could play into this, and one of them may be that 42% of women in tech said that they took on more of the household work than their partners did during the pandemic, while only 11% of men said that they were the ones carrying the majority of the load.
Similarly, 29% of women said that they have a greater childcare burden due to the pandemic, while 19% of men said that they bore the brunt.
This trend of overworking carries over to the workplace, where 43% of women said that they’ve taken on more responsibility within their tech jobs since the start of the pandemic, and 33% of men said the same.
Read more & references here: https://www.zippia.com/advice/women-in-technology-statistics/
News from a recent report on one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
“Achieving full gender equality, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), could take close to 300 years if the current rate of progress continues, according to a report published on Wednesday by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).” https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1126171
To watch:
* Where did all the women in tech go? BBC Ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNdc5ZCuhjQ
* Le mythe de la mère parfaite
La figure maternelle idéale, tout comme celle de la femme, a connu de nombreuses variations au cours des siècles, mais elle n'a jamais cessé d'exister. Comment s'est formé ce mythe qui poursuit encore les mamans d'aujourd'hui ? https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/104414-000-A/le-mythe-de-la-mere-parfaite/
Actions to beat period poverty.
* Scotland is the first country in the world to offer free sanitary products.
On the 15th of August 2022, it became enshrined in law that councils and education providers must ensure free period products are available to those who need them in Scotland.https://www.livebreathescotland.com/free-sanitary-products-scotland/
However,..
· Period dignity officer role scrapped after abuse over man's appointment: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-62807683
Finally, on a more positive note, join us Tuesday 13 Sept 2022, 12:00 → 14:00 in 31/3-004 (IT Amphitheatre) for a WIT Talk with Louise Carvalho, Diversity & Inclusion Programme Leader, who will share progress of the 25by’25 initiative, followed by a WIT Lunch in R2: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1172655/
Best wishes,
Rachel.
on behalf of WIT Communications
*************************************************************************************************************
About the Women in Technology (WIT) Community: The aim of this community is to provide an environment in which women are not in the minority when interacting with technology. Our objectives are: to encourage women to play the role of expert; to provide a supportive learning environment; and to build a network between the Women in Technology here at CERN. WIT welcomes members from all genders and all technical fields. Visit cern.ch/wit<http://cern.ch/wit>