Majority Of Women Techies Find Work Appealing, 42% Admit Bias: Report

Technology is the most fast pacing development in the world today. The tech world, by all means, is the largest dominator when it comes to businesses. The earlier male-dominated technology has managed to provide a rightful space arena for women over the years. In fact, we've seen several women in tech, across the world, take on this industry like a storm. However, gender bias is something women, even today, are still struggling to eliminate. 

A study by Booking.com found that while a majority of women techies find work appealing, 42 per cent of them admitted the worse kind of bias.

Findings

• Four out of five women techies from across the world intend to continue working in the industry and are taking the lead towards achieving gender parity.
• The bias severely spreads farther than technical IT and engineering roles.
• Women surveyed find working in the tech industry appealing because it offers them a plethora of development options: 81 per cent said it offers them the freedom to innovate. 70 per cent answered that they are provided with a fast paced working environment. 78 per cent women techies said they enjoy the flexible working hours.
• 61 per cent said tech companies have a less hierarchical structures compared to other industries.
• Almost half of the women think that gender bias is worse than what they had expected. This percentage is higher for women who are higher up on the corporate ladder. 52 per cent of women in senior management roles and 57 per cent of women, who are executive board members, revealed they have experienced gender bias in the workplace.

Both India and China, at 94 per cent, soared higher than the US and Europe when it came to women techies staying committed to the tech world.

• As per the report, in India, “Advancement is less of an issue compared with other markets with just 17 per cent of respondents believing their potential to progress in tech is limited beyond a point.”
• However, Indian women also voiced their disappointment concerning the level of appreciation they received at their respective workplaces. “…women in India feel most strongly across all markets surveyed that their contributions and voices are under-appreciated in the tech workplace. This figure is more than double the global average 20 per cent, pointing to a major issue with workplace culture,” read the report.

Nearly nine in 10 women globally recommend a career in the tech industry to the next generation.

• According to Gillian Tans, CEO at Booking.com. “There is clearly a thirst and a sense of optimism from women – whether already in the tech industry or hoping to be one day – for the potential that a role in technology can deliver. To move the needle further and achieve true gender parity in the global tech industry, we should be looking to harness this optimism and create a more inclusive culture that attracts and retains talented women.”

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