Gender Nurture and Diversity in IT & Technology

Poll shows boys feel more encouraged than girls to pursue their interests in IT & Tech

CW Jobs have conducted a YouGov poll to explore the gap between the numbers of men and women working within the IT industry.

The poll found that of the x number of people asked, 17% of men work in an IT and Technology role, compared to only 5% of women.

Respondents were also asked how much of a role IT and Technology plays in their jobs.

• 20% of men and 11% of women said ‘IT and technology plays a major role’ in their jobs
• 11% of men and 14% of women said ‘IT and technology plays no role’ in their jobs

To find out whether these gender differences are affected by levels of interest, and if interest has changed over time, respondents were asked about their interest in IT and Technology now and when younger.

Whilst the number of men and women interested in IT now (70% and 48% respectively) has risen from interested in earlier years (48% and 32%) by a similar figure (45% and 50%), the data shows that there are fewer women moving from ‘not interested’ to ‘interested’ than men.

	Men	Women
Not Interested (School Years)	47%	63%
Not Interested (Present Time)	28%	50%

As can be seen from the table above, the number of men answering ‘not interested’ has decreased by 40% between their school years and the present time. The decrease in number of women answering ‘not interested’ is only half that, at 20%.

Respondents were asked whether they experienced encouragement, or discouragement with IT and Technology from parents, other family, educational guidance, and societal expectations.

The data shows a consistent difference in how men and women felt they were encouraged by each of these influences. Looking at discouragement however, the differences were smaller and less consistent.

Encouraged by Men Women Parents 35% 25% Other Family 25% 15% Educational Guidance 38% 30% Society 33% 24%

Discouraged by Men Women Parents 6% 7% Other Family 6% 5% Educational Guidance 6% 10% Society 6% 7%

Each area of encouragement shows a difference of 8-10% between the two genders, with men feeling more encouraged than women.

The poll found that gender is not the only demographic difference. Social grade also factors in, with 14% of people in social grade ABC1 working in an IT and Technology role, compared to only 7% of people in social grade C2DE.

When asked how much of a role IT and Technology plays in their jobs:

• 19% of social grade ABC1 and 9% of social grade C2DE answered ‘IT and technology plays a major role’ in their jobs
• 3% of social grade ABC1 and 27% of social grade C2DE answered ‘IT and technology plays no role’ in their jobs

The results also show differences for region, with 10% of people in the north working in an IT and Technology role, compared to 17% of people in the south.

When asked about the role of IT and Technology in their jobs:

• 11% of people in the north and 21% of people in the south answered ‘IT and technology plays a major role’ in their jobs
• 18% of people in the north and 11% of people in the south answered ‘IT and technology plays no role’ in their jobs

The results from this poll show a clear gap in both vocation and interest levels of the IT and Technology industry when it comes to gender, but also social grade and region.

The question is, how much does interest play a part in the career choice for this industry, and how much does encouragement affect the interest levels differently in different demographics during formative years?

For the full results of the poll and to download the report, visit the CW Jobs website here: http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/blog/it-gender-pay-gap/