Kriti Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CPO, StoreHippo, 0
The technical fields have long been notorious for sporting a lack of gender diversity. The industry has always been male-dominated both in the educational and employment sectors since the start of time. Having diverse people work in an industry brings in a flow of new ideas, viewpoints, and innovation which are critical for the growth of any industry but even more so in fields of technology. These new additions whether they are small or big can spell out a huge revenue increase, popularity, and overall growth for the companies. Therefore, it is crucial for the tech industry to pick up the pace and match the number of men and women working in it.
As women empowerment gained a stronger momentum globally in the last few decades, the graph of gender diversity in a few fields has shown noticeable improvement. Have a glimpse at where it all started and How it evolved for women in the tech space.
The Past Landscape of Women Workforce in the Tech Domain
It was Ada Lovelace, a woman, who worked on the first-ever computer program in history during the 1900s. Her work was indeed an astonishing and historical achievement for women in the tech worldwide. Another historical woman of the tech field was Radia Perlman, also known as the Mother of the Internet. Her contribution to the field is what makes the Internet possible the way we know it today. The list stretches to include Hedy Lamarr (inventor of WiFi), Katherine Johnson (the orbital mathematician of NASA who made Apollo 11 possible), and the legendary women of ENIAC who made the first all-electronic computer, among others.
This list of terrific women in tech includes Indian members like Tessy Thomas, also known as the Missile Woman of India, who legendarily became the first Indian woman to head a missile project in the country or Ritu Karidhal, the Rocket woman of India, who was the director of Chandrayaan Mission-2. These women knowingly or unknowingly have made significant contribution adds onto women's advancement in the technical fields that they would now be remembered across history.
While the achievements of these women and more have been critical to the world growth and development. It is a notable fact that the women community has not always been given their due credit for their achievements. In the early phases, women's achievements were either accounted under someone else's name or were undermined because of gender disparity in the profession. Even in today's time, the above-mentioned women are not as popular as their male counterparts in the field.
The number of women in the tech was also dismally low, and they were discouraged to join the technical fields. The norm was to not let women study or work initially. However, the situation improved with time, and women were allowed to study and work. Yet, certain fields, especially STEM, were never encouraged in front of the womenfolk. This was mainly because of the heavy male domination in these fields. The conservatism characteristic of old times was the strong reason for women to be tabooed in the STEM fields. Luckily, not a
lot of women paid heed to such taboos. This can be seen in the growth of women in the technological sectors in the present times, as briefly discussed below.
The Present Scenario of Women Employment in the Tech Space
In today’s context, women have stridden a long way in all the fields of life. From being denied basic rights and confined to homes, women are now at the forefront of major achievements in all fields across the world. Indian women have also remarkably proved in recent times. However, the fact that there is still some scope of improvement cannot be denied.
Though India has a population divided almost equally between the two genders. Eventually, less than 20 percent of women are identified as part of the labor force, as stated by The World Bank Databank, 2020. So, in general it can be said that we have a long way to go to bring equality for women in the workplace.
According to the Zinnov-Intel, India Gender Diversity Benchmark, 2019-women represent 26 percent of IT workforce. This gender gap can be observed right from the start, especially in the IT sector. The All India Survey of Higher Education report showed how the percentage of men enrolled in engineering and technology-based courses was 71.1 percent, in contrast to the 28.9 percent of women. This difference of representation can be attributed to gender and race prejudices, social conditioning, lack of educational and employment opportunities amongst other forces that suppress girls. The reasons may differ for individuals, but the consequence of all these forces are eventually the same- lack of women representation in technological fields.
It is important to note that this disparity is not only affecting our present but also holds a substantial impact on our future. If the women of today continue to uphold a small percentage in these sectors, then it would not be possible for them to make a lot of ground impact in order to make things easier for the women of tomorrow.
At large, it is mandatory for women in India and the world to step up in tech fields to make a difference, further to dominate the future of tech space. Some ways in which this can be achieved is by creating comfortable and convenient options for women to get educated and employed in tech fields.
It is also critical that women are made aware of all the perks that tech related education carries in terms of money, career advancement and many more. This can help us shape a brighter future for the women aspiring to join the tech space.
It is true that the evolution of women in fields of technology has been slow till today, but it has also been steady. Thus, similarly, through consistent efforts, we can expect a hopeful surge in women representation in tech in the future.
Summing-up
Even though the number of women in tech fields, especially in senior positions is dismally low, they haven't failed to make themselves seen. The women of technical fields have gained immense recognition globally by constantly proving their competence. This has proved to the world that how crucial it is for the tech sector to recruit more women. It has also made an indirect impact on the work pool available in the market for tech companies. Seeing the female surge in tech achievers, a lot of young women have been inspired to choose fields of technology as a career. In due time, these realizations, in both the industry as well as the workers' party, are bound to bring out a revolutionary change in the gender ratio of the field.
The Present Scenario of Women Employment in the Tech Space
In today’s context, women have stridden a long way in all the fields of life. From being denied basic rights and confined to homes, women are now at the forefront of major achievements in all fields across the world. Indian women have also remarkably proved in recent times. However, the fact that there is still some scope of improvement cannot be denied.
Though India has a population divided almost equally between the two genders. Eventually, less than 20 percent of women are identified as part of the labor force, as stated by The World Bank Databank, 2020. So, in general it can be said that we have a long way to go to bring equality for women in the workplace.
It is true that the pace at which change is coming is slow and inconsistent, but it is also true that the change is, in fact, happening
According to the Zinnov-Intel, India Gender Diversity Benchmark, 2019-women represent 26 percent of IT workforce. This gender gap can be observed right from the start, especially in the IT sector. The All India Survey of Higher Education report showed how the percentage of men enrolled in engineering and technology-based courses was 71.1 percent, in contrast to the 28.9 percent of women. This difference of representation can be attributed to gender and race prejudices, social conditioning, lack of educational and employment opportunities amongst other forces that suppress girls. The reasons may differ for individuals, but the consequence of all these forces are eventually the same- lack of women representation in technological fields.
It is important to note that this disparity is not only affecting our present but also holds a substantial impact on our future. If the women of today continue to uphold a small percentage in these sectors, then it would not be possible for them to make a lot of ground impact in order to make things easier for the women of tomorrow.
At large, it is mandatory for women in India and the world to step up in tech fields to make a difference, further to dominate the future of tech space. Some ways in which this can be achieved is by creating comfortable and convenient options for women to get educated and employed in tech fields.
It is also critical that women are made aware of all the perks that tech related education carries in terms of money, career advancement and many more. This can help us shape a brighter future for the women aspiring to join the tech space.
It is true that the evolution of women in fields of technology has been slow till today, but it has also been steady. Thus, similarly, through consistent efforts, we can expect a hopeful surge in women representation in tech in the future.
Summing-up
Even though the number of women in tech fields, especially in senior positions is dismally low, they haven't failed to make themselves seen. The women of technical fields have gained immense recognition globally by constantly proving their competence. This has proved to the world that how crucial it is for the tech sector to recruit more women. It has also made an indirect impact on the work pool available in the market for tech companies. Seeing the female surge in tech achievers, a lot of young women have been inspired to choose fields of technology as a career. In due time, these realizations, in both the industry as well as the workers' party, are bound to bring out a revolutionary change in the gender ratio of the field.