Kira Summers, a programme leader for digital media computing at Birmingham City University has been in “male-dominated environments” in almost every part of her career.
Gender roles and stereotyped industries are a common issue occurring in society.
Despite the constant development in technology, the computing industry remains male-dominated with large gaps in gender differences throughout the trade, according to Christianne Corbett and Catherine Hill’s study.
Kira said: “I almost certainly feel that the computing industry is male-dominated, almost every part that I have worked in has been. I think that it is because it actually is.
Helen Rutter, a law lecturer at the School of Computing at Birmingham City University, agrees: “Most of my colleagues have been and are still male.
“I worked in buying and commercial management and I was promoted to Spirits Buyer for an off-licence chain. It was a male workforce, but I was responsible for a one hundred million spend with a lot of power, and they didn’t know what to do with me.”
Only 17% of employees in the United Kingdom’s technology field are women, according to recent statistics which show that the gender difference in the industry is made up of men by over 80%.
This pressure can put women off choosing this career, as well as the stereotypes linked to computing as it is assumed those in the job role are ‘geeks.’
This is supported by a study at the University of Washington, as they found that women are discouraged from pursuing careers in computer science due to not wanting to look like the ‘nerd stereotype.’
David Fennell, a software engineer freelancer said: “As a software engineer we have tried to entice more women to be a part of the industry by showing them that it isn’t the geeky environment they may perceive it to be. Until we break these stereotypes I cannot see an influx of females coming.”
“We have plenty of women open to the idea of working on the design or writing side, however, most areas of engineering is male-dominated. I’ve worked in the industry for six years and I know of five women.”
For Helen, these stereotypes and male-domination made her “want to fight, rather than give up” as she believes for many women “it is a confidence issue.”
“I feel like it’s the 1900’s, I was shocked as I thought those days were over. (In my workplace) they often tried to exclude women by scheduling meetings at different times, but you had to be smarter than them.”
With some key figures in the computing industry being females, such as the former President and CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, or the first computer programmer Ada Lovelace, we question why women are restricted from entering this job role.
Helen believes: “If we send a broader message to women that they can do anything they like, with positive publicity around women at the top of the industry this could help encourage females to get involved in computing.”
Figures from HESA (2016/2017) demonstrate the gender gap in computing industry courses at university are too male-dominated, as 82.74% of students studying the course are male.
Despite a large number of male students in computing courses, Helen said: “I have taught many female undergraduates over the last eight years,” so despite the limited number of applicants, women are still considering this career.
A female PhD computer science student at University College London said: “I learned a lot that worried me about the gender pay gap when I attended UCL. This preparation was what I needed to gain confidence and prepare for a fellowship application.
“The gender pay gap won’t close of its own accord, but by recognising the problem, it can put the right measures in place to level the playing field in computing. After all, diverse workplaces perform far better statistically than those dominated by one sex, ethnicity or academic background.”