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Decoding the state of women in tech

It's 2018. And the world is surging ahead with tech.

As the push for diversity in technology continues, we set out to discover what the reality is for women in this tech-driven world.

We surveyed over 1000 women developers from all over the world and got a mixed bag of good and bad.

Bottom line: Despite the tech industry's best efforts to achieve gender equity, there's a lot of work to be done.

Nearly 1,000 experienced women developers participated in our survey

Below 30 years of age

From many countries

Working in different sectors

Use the left and right arrow keys to navigate

The challenge of hiring women developers

Hiring women developers is still a significant challenge

And this challenge comes along with its fair share of issues like...

Pay
disparity

Recruiting
bias

Lack of
mentorship

Limited
opportunities

The size of the company
doesn't matter

Whether it's a small startup or a large enterprise, women developers don't bag the majority of the tech roles. Women developers represent only one-third (proportion ranging from 0% to 30%) of a tech team.

Impact of education on career growth

Do women lack formal
training in Computer Science?

As it turns out, no they don't.

86% of the respondents said they have a formal degree in computer science.

A degree helps them get started in a tech career as a software developer, but the skills and the experience that they gather, rarely translate into leadership roles. Only 2% of the respondents held senior leadership roles in tech companies.

The under-representation of women developers is consistent across several job roles.

Even though women developers are well-versed in in-demand languages, moving up the ranks is still a challenge.

Software Developer

Java, HTML, Javascript

System Administrator

C, HTML, SQL

QA
Developer

Java, HTML, CSS

Product Designer

HTML, C, Java

Engineering Manager

C, C++, Java, Python

C-Suite Executives

C, C++, SQL

Impact of underrepresentation on career growth

Despite having skills, being under-represented makes women developers relook their career growth.

More than half of the respondents mentioned that they were actively looking for a new job. In fact, most developers change jobs within two years, only 20% of the developers stay on for 4 or more years.

There’s more to why women change jobs than what meets the eye.

It's not just under-representation that affects women developers. There are quite a few reasons why women want to change jobs.

This trend can also be seen across women developers from diverse cultures.

A common desire to work on innovative projects and emerging technologies made women developers of Asian and African American origin look for better jobs, while the Caucasian and Hispanic origin developers said that they look for better pay and a positive work-life balance when they're switching jobs.

Bias and gender inequality in tech hiring

There is one factor that contributes to gender inequality the most...

Almost half of the women developers we surveyed believe that there is an obvious bias in hiring women for tech roles. Women technologists also mentioned that there a few roles which are a little more challenging to break into when compared with male technologists.

Instead of turning a blind eye, women developers think that companies should try blind hiring.

Blind hiring refers to any technique that anonymizes or "blinds" any demographic-related information about a candidate from the recruiter or hiring manager that can lead to bias. Using technical recruitment software is a great way to incorporate blind hiring into your recruitment process.

Happiness at work

How happy are women technologists in their current organization?

Nearly 40% of the respondents stated that they were either happy or extremely happy with their organization, and close to 45% of the respondents said that they would recommend their organization to their peers.

What can companies do to change this?

There are quite a few things that companies could do to help women technologists to bring their best and happiest selves to work.

Encourage work-life balance

Provide better growth opportunities

Upskill or provide adequate training

Worker-friendly policies like remote-working options, child care services, and flexible schedules could also go a long way in encouraging women technologists.

What are the things companies are doing right?

A majority of our respondents said that their organization valued their opinions.

While this is heartening, there were a few developers who felt that their opinions weren't valued. According to them, this happens due to the following reasons:

Lower rank in the organizational hierarchy

Lack of reskilling and upskilling opportunities

Not getting the same respect as their male colleagues

Companies are providing women enough opportunities to re-start their careers.

72% of our respondents mentioned that their organization provided opportunities to women who wished to re-start their careers after a break.

Employee resource groups are making workplaces a lot more inclusive.

72% of the respondents said that their organizations had Employee Resource Groups which helped in incorporating flexible work schedules, boosting healthcare benefits, establishing mentorship-sponsorship programs, and making parental and leave benefits the new normal.

Organizations are also getting family friendly.

81% of our respondents have quoted that their organizations were family friendly. By allowing flexible work-schedules and creating communities organizations are ensuring that employees, primarily working parents, aren't alienated from their personal lives.

Ease of access to tech mentors is a huge plus.

53% of the respondents have said that their organizations provided them with tech mentors and role models that they could look up to.

The opportunities for upgrading tech skills are slowly increasing.

Half of the respondents mentioned that their organization helped them upgrade their tech skills. Apart from the learning portals such as LinkedIn Learning and Udemy, women technologists picked up new skills online and offline through networking, free webinars, podcasts, and blogs.

Skills required to thrive in today's tech job market

What are the tech skills that companies are looking for?

An overwhelming majority of companies are looking for candidates with DevOps, mobile app developer, agile scrum master, cloud solution architect, and IT security-related skills. Other skills include .NET, Angular/ Javascript engineer, full stack developer, embedded dev skills, machine learning, etc.

What are the tech skills that interest
women technologists the most?

Software Developer

Mobile app development, DevOps, Cloud solution architect

System Administrator

DevOps, Cloud solution architect, Agile scrum master and Mobile app development

QA
Developer

Agile scrum master, Cloud solution architect,R

Product Designer

Agile scrum master, Cloud solution architect, R and IT security

Engineering Manager

DevOps, Cloud solution architect, TOGAF

C-Suite Executives

DevOps, Cloud solution architect, Agile scrum master

Ideas to be considered and actions to be taken

In summary, here's what the tech industry can
do to make gender diversity the new normal.

Roll out the welcome mat

A welcoming and supportive environment makes women technologists get comfortable in their tech roles quicker.

Provide opportunities to learn and grow

Giving opportunities for reskilling and upskilling, entrusting women with more job responsibilities, and taking their interests and strengths into consideration encourage women technologists to stay longer and contribute more in tech roles.

Elevate women in the workplace

Companies should make a sincere effort in helping female employees elevate themselves professionally. Even if it's something as basic as conducting workshops or going the extra mile and helping women technologists connect with seasoned tech mentors, every action helps in bringing a significant change.

Eliminate bias at work

Women thrive in organizations that try to eliminate bias in every area of work. Whether it's by providing adequate advancement opportunities or ensuring equal pay for equal work, sincere efforts like these bring the much-needed boost to gender diversity in tech.

How HackerEarth can help your company build a strong and diverse workforce

Even the best of hiring processes falter when human biases creep in. That's why when you're looking for the best and the brightest tech talent, technical recruitment software can be of great help.

HackerEarth's technical recruitment software

Scale your
hiring

Screen thousands of candidates using automated tests with minimal manual effort

Eliminate
bias

Eliminate human error and bias while screening candidates to get more relevant candidates in your recruiting funnel

Save time and
reduce costs

Reduce the time and cost incurred while assessing unfit candidates

Improve quality
of hire

Boost your interview-to-hire ratios by ensuring that you spend time interviewing only good candidates

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Decoding the state of women in tech