Women Participation in Technical Profiles - The Figures Does Not Look Promising

According to published sources, the percentage of technical positions held by women in many multinational firms does not look impressive. In case of Microsoft, women constitute around 30% of the entire workforce of the company. But women holding the technical positions are merely 17% and in leadership roles the percentage rises to 23%. In case of Twitter, women in technical roles constitute a mere 10% and in leadership positions it is 21%. In Google, women holding technical positions are 17% with 21% in managerial roles. The figures remain more or less similar for Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Intel and many others. These figures directly point towards the fact that women are least involved in the product development and business strategy formulation processes. Also, the 30% of women employment has a back story as well. Previously, the management and technical aspects were totally handled by men. After the rising concern for the need of workforce diversity, though women were lead in to such positions, the percentage has been stuck at low levels. Specifically it is commonly seen that there is on an average only one women in such teams and people are not paying attention to the issue.

There are certain major adjustments required in terms of perspectives and attitude in this regard. Firstly, women who have MBA degrees do not go for highly technical positions. There is a mindset that the technical positions will be filled in by geeks who are believed to be working round the clock. This creates a lot of pressure on women which puts down the interest and they do not prefer this extra push. Secondly, the most talked about reasoning is the pay gap. In most cases it has been seen that female employees are paid way less than their male peers. The reasoning behind this discrimination cannot be strategically explained till date.

With all these hindrances it is high time that the issue be dealt with proper initiation.

• First and foremost, an in depth analysis is required in terms of women employee density within the workforce. Then a research concerning women in technical roles has to be done to look in to the current stand point. If the situation is on the lower end then, a job consultancy may be helpful in recruiting women candidates.
• It has to be kept in mind that just filling out positions with women candidates would not be helpful. Hence the job consultancy can be useful in short listing worthy candidates with appropriate skill set and professional experience.
• In certain cases an overhaul in the company policies may be required in order to make the work environment favourable for the women employees. This also increases the retention rate.
• Equal opportunity environment should be practiced within the organization wherein every employee irrespective of the gender, gets a chance to showcase his or her skills, creativity and share suggestions from time to time.

Creating a gender balanced work environment does not essentially refer to hiring women employees randomly. It requires high level of analysis and planning for the business benefit in the long run.