According to data provided by a virtual event solution company, only 20 percent of employees in the US tech industry are women.

We all know, the tech industry is more of a male-dominated field.

As technologies have advanced, more and more job opportunities are created for techs, not only for male but also for female techs.

Back in 2017, there were 627,000 unfilled positions in tech, by that time the number of women in computer science nowadays is less than in the 1980s.

Even though there has been obvious progress in achieving gender equality around the world over the past two decades, women are still -present in the world of technology. 

So, why women are not using these opportunities?

Software, cybersecurity, and cloud computing professionals are in high demand in the modern world; thus, they make more money than professionals in other fields. If we compare the annual average salary of tech professionals with the average salary of non-tech professionals, it’s more than double.

Besides, when it comes to career choices, young women traditionally tend to choose fields such as the humanities, health care, and education, in which the wages are lower.

Men, on the other hand, more frequently pursue STEM professions: science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and other technical fields with higher wages.

The limited participation of women in the tech industry can prevent the country from growing economically and financially.

Many studies have revealed all the advantages for companies that employ women.

According to a survey, companies that have more female employees, have better financial indicators, a clearer understanding of the market, and more efficient organization of labor.

Although women are more likely to enroll in higher educational institutions and get their diplomas of completion, there are some factors that prevent women from taking over in the tech industry.

So, what are those factors that prevent women from advancing in the tech industry?

It’s enough to simply have a look at the number of women being discriminated against in their workplace. Sexual harassment and the #me# too movement in the US showed that there is more to be concerned about than we think.

We already highlighted the problems that women are facing in the tech industry.

Now the big question is what’s being done to change the situation?

It is a fact that some organizations are providing financial help for women, but there is more to it than just monetary issues.

A lot of women need to be empowered to be able to change the industry.

Organizations, such as Girl Develop it, are dedicated to empowering women and providing an opportunity to learn web and software development.

Women are potential mothers. And living in a country where there is no federal policy on parental leave (maternity, paternity leave), is a big challenge.

Even though some big American companies are trying to improve working conditions and benefits for working mothers, such as Netflix or Google, the US still doesn’t have the best parental leave policies.

On the contrary, some Northern European countries, such as Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, are among the 10 countries that have the best parental leave policies in the world. As a result, women’s participation in the tech industry in those countries is higher.

To face future changes, we need to readdress the issue.  We should encourage younger generations, mostly girls, to choose the professions that used to be or still are male-dominated.

48 percent of women said they didn’t have good mentors who would give them proper guidance in choosing their career path. Preparing good role models in the field is very important.

After all, realizing the importance of having women in the tech industry and taking the necessary steps will change the overall picture of the gender gap we have in the tech industry all over the world.

Engaging more women in the technology workforce produces a more competitive business environment, which is beneficial not only for women but everybody else.

In the end, we want to sum up our blog with the words of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai; ‘’As mankind, we cannot all succeed if half of us are held back’’.

Do you agree?  What’s your perspective on the topic? How do you think we should promote women’s participation in the tech industry?