[Assignment- First Two Year Batch-MEd. 2015-17
- Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram]
Women in technology fight to bridge the gender gap
The battle to bridge the
gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math shows no signs of
ending anytime soon.
Though women are making
strides in the biosciences, social sciences, physical sciences and such
engineering fields as environmental and biomedical, a chasm exists when it
comes to the male-dominated fields of computer science and software
engineering. And that will have a profound effect on the future for women and
the tech industry as a whole, according to Judy Mahan, director of Cal
Poly’s Center for Innovation and
Entrepreneurship’s Small Business Development Center and
the CIE’s incubator program.
In the
U.S., women held 57 percent of professional occupations in the
2015 workforce, but only 25 percent of professional computing occupations.
Yet the number of computer-related jobs is only increasing. Research shows
about 56 percent of women technologists drop out by mid-career. That’s
twice the rate of men. A study of 1,000 women in engineering found that the key
reasons they leave their tech jobs are working conditions, lack of advancement,
low salary, long hours and issues related to work-life balance.
According
to the National Center for Women in Technology, research has shown that there are five
significant barriers women in technical professions face: isolation or a lack
of mentors and networks, unconscious biases in performance evaluation and
promotion processes, problematic supervisory relationships, a lack of support
for competing life responsibilities, and subtle unconscious biases in everyday
interactions.
Solutions
*Digital
fluency is the key to closing the gender gap.
*We have to
help women to identify their passion in life.
*Recognise
and reward the successes of women.
*Women need
to support and celebrate each other in order to make gender equality a reality.
*Address
the gender issue head on.
Companies must educate and discuss gender issue openly with their employees.
Training on identifying bias and assumptions on leadership “traits” must be
addressed and a focus on hiring, retaining and promoting the best candidate
regardless of gender must be emphasized.
*Implement
family-friendly policies.
Work-life balance is not a gender issue. The responsibilities of home life go
across genders.
*Measure
success.
Implementing quotas and quickly thrown together gender target metrics can be
counterproductive in addressing the gender diversity issue. Companies must
invest time and resources to define and track a programme’s success and ensure
that both senior management and the general employee population are engaged in
the results.
*It is
important that we as a society recognize the accomplishments of the power of women who are unafraid to challenge the status quo,
who demand respect and equality and who make a difference in their industries.
Submitted by Ms. Bindhya DS.
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