IT industry is too "macho" for women

By Peter Teague . Posted September 12, 2005.

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.)

              

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

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