Women in Tech: It’s Time to Eliminate the Gap

The fastest expanding global industry is the technology industry. For people with digital profiles, it presents a wealth of options; however, when it comes to working in technology, women still face significant obstacles. Unlike men, challenges for women in tech are commonplace.

The study, Women in the Workplace 2023, conducted by McKinsey & Company, points out that for every 100 men who ascend to management positions, only 87 women reach that scale. If we talk about the technology industry, the gap widens: data from the World Economic Forum says that about 24% of the leaders in this sector are women.

In Mexico, a study by Page Group points out that there is deficit of 33,500 professionals in STEM careers, even though the country ranks second in the region for the most digital talent and has the highest trend of increase, having gone from 180,509 graduates in 2018 to 219,322 in 2021, an increase of 21.5%.

And if you pay special attention to technology areas, according to a study by the Project Management Institute (PMI), male project managers outnumber women by a difference of 58%. In addition, globally, women earn about 20% less than men for work of equal value.

Even though there is a lack of talent and the demand for technology profiles grew in the wake of the pandemic by 60%, opportunities for these female profiles remain scarce, with a total of 19.7% of STEM positions held by women in the country.

Also, in some companies, there is still a significant salary gap, according to PMI. In the case of Brazil, the wage gap reaches 17%, which places it in fourth place in the ranking of 18 countries. In first place is Colombia, where inequality of values reaches 24% of the cases. Mexico (23%, in second place) and Peru (16%, in sixth place) are close behind.

In other words, the Latin American market is one of the most unequal in terms of gender.

Challenges Facing Women in Tech

Some of the challenges include gender bias, lack of representation, and lack of access to leadership opportunities. Research shows that women are under-represented in technology fields, and many women struggle to advance to higher positions in their careers due to bias in the industry. 

A report by Zippia, done in 2023, notes that large tech companies have a 34.4% workforce participation rate in their companies, and while this percentage has advanced by 6.4% from 2020 to date, women still do not fill technical positions.

Let's take a closer look at some of the challenges facing women in technology:

1. Lack of female role models in tech. According to Finances Online, women hold less than 20% of all leadership positions in technology. For women, this could make it difficult for them to develop in their jobs and achieve their goals. It is simple to believe that you don't belong or are incapable of succeeding when you don't see someone you can identify with in a leadership role.

2. Women are under-represented in technology. According to a report by the National Center for Women and Information Technology, women earn only 18% of systems engineering degrees. Second, a McKinsey & Company study found that women hold only 24% of technology jobs in the Americas.

3. Wage gap. The wage gap is still present in Mexico, where women earn 34% less than men in the same position, according to data from UN Women Mexico. Although the wage gap is also present in STEM careers, it is smaller: for every 100 pesos earned by men, women receive 82 pesos, according to the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE).

There are at least four fundamental reasons to insist on the importance of female inclusion in the world of technology:

Women help improve technical innovation: Work teams made up of professionals of both genders have a higher degree of problem solving. In addition, they achieve higher rates of productivity and innovation.

Female inclusion reduces social inequalities: The fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs are those associated with technology.

Technology encourages leadership and critical thinking: By creating technology and software, critical thinking, creativity, and the development of previous steps are encouraged.

Reducing the shortage of professionals: One of the main problems for the tech industry is the shortage of professionals. Hence, programmers, data scientists, analytics specialists and the like have better salaries compared to colleagues in traditional professions. In addition, many employees work from home for firms in other parts of the world, which is an advantage for women who want to be close to their children.

No matter how you look at it, a more gender-diverse workforce is better for companies, especially in the technology sector. Women are more than capable and qualified to excel in technology fields, such as engineering, programming, cybersecurity and more.

Conclusions

According to the study, Women in Business 2022, conducted by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, in alliance with the Center for Research on Women in Senior Management (CIMAD), of the Pan-American Institute of Senior Management (IPADE) Business School, it is observed that the representation of women decreases as the hierarchical level within companies increases; however, compared to the previous year's measurement, the presence of women has increased.

It is clear that job growth must be based on having very clear objectives, setting goals to be achieved, focusing, preparing, and learning everything that is required to increase knowledge. Our role is to understand and be transparent about where we are now. In this way, as leaders in Mexico of multicultural companies with global reach, we have the opportunity to integrate teams with qualified Mexican female professionals in technology that provide services around the world, with the opportunity to grow within the company, while ensuring equal treatment (including salary perceptions). I consider it extremely important that we women support each other.

https://www.observatoriolaboral.gob.mx/static/estudios-publicaciones/Tendencias_empleo.html
https://imco.org.mx/mujeres-en-las-empresas-2022/
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/about-us/inclusion-diversity
https://www-advantisglobal-com.translate.goog/blog/biggest-challenges-for-women-in-tech?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=es&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=rq
https://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2023/03/08/mujeres-en-tecnologia-brecha-genero-se-matiene