Technology is recognised as a key driver for gender equality in the Sustainable Development Goals, yet women continue to face significant barriers as users, creators and decision-makers in the field. CTG will be taking action to mobilise more women into this sector to help build greater diversity and enact much needed change.
Tehmeem Taseen, CTG Programme Manager and part of the support team behind our HR software Tayo
In today’s world, tech is one of the most male-dominated industries. For every three men, there is only one woman working in the sector. Despite women’s instrumental role in shaping the tech world, their contributions have often been overlooked.
Efforts to strengthen gender equality in the formal labour market have seen progress across some sectors, but the Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (STEM) gender gap remains pronounced. According to UNESCO, women and girls are 25% less likely than men to know how to use technology for basic purposes and four times less likely to know how to programme computers. Here we explore women’s evolving role in technology, the barriers contributing to this gap and why bridging it is now more important than ever.
Women’s evolving role in technology
Ada Lovelace is credited with being the world’s first computer programmer having written a machine algorithm in 1842, 100 years before the first programme-controlled computer was created. Her contributions to computing were only recognised a century after her death, and the same lack of recognition has impacted many other women following her.
Modern computing and technology emerged during the Second World War. Where men were primarily responsible for building machine and hardware components, women assumed a dominant role in software development, coding and analysis. Despite their involvement they were titled ‘secretaries’, leading to lower pay compared to men, and ultimately framing computing and software as a ‘woman’s’ job.
This quickly changed in the 1960s when computing became a commercialised industry. The marketing of technology as a male ‘field’ forged perceptions that women are less likely to have the skills or intelligence to use technology and resulted in a sharp decline in the numbers of women pursuing it as a vocation.
Barriers hindering women’s access to technology
Even today, women and girls are systematically directed away from science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Gender norms and expectations that define which subjects boys and girls should pursue are evident from the first years of education. These set foundations for career stereotypes as they progress. For example, a survey showed that more men than women agreed that their schools encouraged them to pursue STEM careers, offered STEM classes and provided STEM extra-curricular activities.
But this is not the only barrier. According to the OECD women and girls, especially in emerging economies, typically have unequal access to technology and the internet compared to boys and men. UN Women states that only 63 per cent of women have access to the internet, compared to 69 per cent of men. While that may not seem like a large gap, it equates to 259 million more men than women globally using the internet.
The cost of information and communications technologies is also one of the greatest barriers to women’s internet and mobile phone access in low-income countries. As technology advances, costs rise, further limiting women’s access and reducing their likeliohood of pursuing careers in the field. This is why efforts to reduce the digital gender gap are paramount to prevent even further widening.
The current status of women in tech
The level of women’s representation in tech varies country to country, but there is consistency in their under-representation. In Ethiopia, women only make up 22% of total enrollment in technology courses at public universities. The same applies in Nigeria where the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) has said that women make up only 25% of technology graduates from universities across the country. Education paves the way for professional endeavours, and without gender parity in educational courses we create a cycle leading to less diversity in the profession and in leadership roles. For example in Nigeria, women make up only 5% of leadership roles within the technology industry.
In other countries such as Libya however, the issue is not the level of diversity in educational courses, but rather women’s lack of access to employment in this sector. The Libyan Ministry of Labour has shown that a far higher level of unemployment in women ICT graduates compared to men, and that women are much less likely to find employment in the sector.
CTG South Sudan Assistant Storekeeper, Loni Olluru
So why does women’s representation in tech matter?
Technological innovation is driving the fourth industrial revolution and is changing the way we live everyday. This revolution is defining the jobs of tomorrow, all of which reflect an existing gender gap. At a global level according to UNESCO, women make up only 32% of roles in Data and Artificial Intelligence, 14% in cloud computing and 20% in engineering. Increasing women’s representation in technology roles therefore matters today because not doing so will leave women behind, unable to attain these critical jobs of the future. With the global tech sector being worth $5 trillion USD, this could also have severe implications for women’s economic outlook compared to men.
Ultimately technology is not male or female, but with male dominance in the sector, technology does not always serve the needs and interests of women which in turn reduces their usage of it as well. Women bring unique perspectives and experiences to the table, which can enable them to develop technologies that work better for everyone. They need to be empowered to create technologies that factor in gender-specific needs throughout the design and development process, ensuring that products and systems are inclusive and accessible.
Leave no one behind
Bridging the gender gap in technology is not a question of fairness; it is essential for driving gender equality and paving the way for sustainable development for all. Women must be empowered to be users, creators and decision-makers in the technology field.
CTG hires and manages thousands of humanitarian and development professionals, many of whom work in technology and STEM roles. With gender equality already a central part of how we do business, we recognise the need to extend this focus to women in these fields. In the coming months we will be raising awareness and advocating for gender diversity in tech and we invite you to join us on this journey. Our aim is to support our current staff and to create a strong foundation for women in tech of the future. In today’s tech driven world, diversity is central for creating inclusive and accessible solutions – and we all have a role to play.