Women Dropping Out of IT

Women's eNews has an interesting look at women in tech, with numbers showing that women are bailing out of the IT field at a rapid pace. "Technology jobs are predicted to grow at a faster rate than all other jobs in the professional sector, up to 22% over the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation is also good. In 2008, women in tech made an average salary of $70,370. ... But women's stake in that rosy outlook is questionable. For starters, men's pay during the same time period was $80,357. A study by the National Center for Women and Information Technology ... also finds that women are leaving computer careers in staggering numbers. 'Fifty-six percent of women in technology companies leave their organizations at the mid-level point, 10-20 years in their careers,' said Catherine Ashcraft, the senior research scientist who authored the report. In 2008, women held only 25% of all professional IT-related jobs, down from 36% in 1991, according to the group's report, 'Women in IT: The Facts.'"

Comments

why? because..

[Dee Ann_1]

because of the way we are treated in general.

Men talk over us or around us.

If I'm speaking most men will just interrupt and talk right over as if I'm not even in the room.

And if I'm competent, which I am, I'm seen as a threat and treated as "the enemy"..

The pay is lower and we have to put more nonsense than we should.

Bottom line: we are treated with disrespect and disdain. In general. It's the old "Women should be seen but not heard" problem.

I dropped out of the IT world a few years ago because of the afore mentioned reasons.

Re:Not just women

[jjohnson]

Next time, RTFA. The figure is specifically adjusted for "comparable experience", just to factor out time off for maternity leave and childcare. Paying women less for comparable experience is pure sexism.

But there's a nice unexamined assumption in your post: Why the fuck aren't the men taking parental leave or caring for the children?

Re:Children?

[Dionysus]

Actually, it does have something to do with it. When a woman takes parental leave, she goes on the bottom of the list to move up. And like it or not, women almost always get stuck with making sure the kids get to school, go to the doctor, etc. so she is usually the one who has to leave work early or miss an entire day on short notice, further putting her on bottom of the promotion list. When kids are sick, day care will NOT accept them (fever = no acceptance). Well shit, kids get sick all the time, and it is almost always mom that stays home with them, not dad. Who has to pick the kids up at school or day care? Mom usually gets that task.

In the US. In Norway, the fathers in my company is home just as often as the mothers.

And when a woman takes off for 2 to 3 months, PAID, it does hurt the perception of her in the workplace.

In Norway, fathers get 10 weeks paternity leave. He also gets 2 weeks leave just after the birth to take care of the mother and child (not counted towards the paternity leave).

There are still more men than women in IT in Norway.

Re:Dilbert?

[Arthur Grumbine]

It's men who are dumb enough to tolerate the aspy-programmer types, the sneering arrogant IT guys, the mailing lists full of flaming personal attacks leveled by closet bullies empowered by semi-anonymity, the phallic-compensating gadget consumerists, constantly "helpful" types who manage to insult while trying to rescue, and the sexually inept who use pinup wallpaper and leer at any woman in eyeshot. Membership in (or at least tolerance of) a repellant boys' club is an almost-mandatory feature of our industry.

In a 20 year career as a software developer:
1. I haven't met any programmers suffering from Asperger's Syndrom (I assume this is what "aspy" means, correct me if I'm wrong)
2. I haven't known any "sneering arrogant IT guys". The IT guys I've met have been normal, helpful human beings.
3. I have seen some harsh emails, but not often and nothing like the venom you describe
4. I can't recall any "phallic compensation gadget consumerists", but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough...
5. I haven't met any "constantly helpful types who insult while trying to rescue"
6. I have seen some teenage male type usage of naked women pictures, but that's been quite rare. Do you think that teenage male types only exist in the tech industry?

Do you think that "boys clubs" are more prevalent in the tech industry than other industries? The problems that you cite probably exist in most companies to one degree or another.

Your problem is that you don't work in the make-believe world of television shows and movies - which is pretty much the only place I can think of that has the characters/stereotypes the GP seems to be railing against.