Home
Archive
Newsletters
Video
Blogs
Discuss
About
Search
Donate
Advertise

IT industry is too "macho" for women

By Peter Teague . Posted September 12, 2005.


The UK's IT industry is pushing women away; a new report says the old-boys' club is to blame

Share and save this post:

      

      

Share on Facebook       

AlterNet Social Networks:
follow us on twitter
find us on Facebook

In Special Coverage

Belief:
Atheism and Diversity: Is It Wrong For Atheists To Convert Believers?
Greta Christina

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace:
Don't Fear the Deficit Bogeyman
John Miller

DrugReporter:
The War on Weed: Marijuana Is Basically Harmless -- The Monumentally Stupid Drug War Is Not
Jim Hightower

Environment:
White House Garden Won't Make Up for Obama's Nomination of Pesticide Lobbyist for US Chief Agriculture Negotiator
Jill Richardson

Food:
Don't Be Scared of Food: Are We Being Needlessly Hysterical About Food Safety?
David E. Gumpert

Health and Wellness:
47,000 Women Could Die As a Result of the New Mammogram Guidelines
George Lakoff

Immigration:
Lou Dobbs, Eyeing Public Office, Endorses Policy He's Long Spun as "Amnesty for Illegals"
Joshua Holland

Media and Technology:
The Memory Scrub About Why Ft. Hood Happened Is Almost Complete ... If It Weren't for Archives
Mark Ames

Movie Mix:
Disney Apocalypse: Why 2012 Sucks
Alexander Zaitchik

Politics:
White House's Ties to Health Care Industry Deeper Than Visitor Records Show
Daniela Perdomo

Reproductive Justice and Gender:
Why Can't We Look Away From Sarah Palin?
Vanessa Richmond

Rights and Liberties:
Whatever Happened to the CIA Black Sites?
David Corn

Sex and Relationships:
Hot Mormon Muffins and Models for Jesus: What's With All the Sexy Christians?
Liz Langley

Take Action:
G-20 Meetings: Nothing Much Happened in the Suites, and There Was Too Much Punch in the Streets
Laura Flanders

Water:
Poseidon's Financial Shell Game: Why Is a Private Desalination Plant Asking for Public Money?
Peter Gleick

World:
Is Obama Following in the Footsteps of Bill Clinton?
Jeff Cohen

More stories by Peter Teague

Advertisement
Upcoming AlterNet stories on Digg

The UK's IT industry is still dominated by the old-boys' club, according to recent research:

Long hours and a macho culture are driving women out of the IT profession, according to research from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and IT trade body Intellect.
The Women in IT industry research was commissioned on the back of figures from the Office of National Statistics showing a six per cent decline in the number of women employed in the IT industry between 1997 and 2005.
More than half of the 42 women surveyed had already left the IT industry and another 13 said they were thinking of leaving. The women were mainly over 45-years-old and in senior roles ranging from software developers, programmers and analysts to IT consultants, managers and directors.
The women all said the work-life balance, 'old-boys' male-dominated environment and industry culture are the core reasons why the IT sector is unattractive to women.
The report went on to say that the industry's priority should be to recruit and retain more women:
"The UK IT industry is world leading but it won't stay that way for long if we continue to haemorrhage valuable, skilled women professionals from the sector," said John Higgins, director general at Intellect, in a statement.
OK, all seriousness aside. I have to admit that this article's headline gave me a little chuckle: IT industry's 'macho culture' drives women away. Cause when I think macho, I think my IT guy. (Relax, I'm only kidding.)

Digg!    Share on facebook   submit to reddit    Bookmark on Delicious   Stumble This  

Jessica Valenti is the executive editor of feministing.com. She is blogging in place of Lakshmi Chaudhry, who is on vacation.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »


Advertisement
Advertisement

 

You've chosen to turn comments off for the entire site. Would you like to turn them back on?
  • AlterNetYour turn

Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.


Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.

Advertisement
Advertisement