New research shows gender gap in European tech sector
JUST one in five job roles across Europe’s technology and software sectors are held by women, new research from Wilbury Stratton has found.
The Brighton-based global talent intelligence specialist found that women make up just 22 % of European technology jobs, with men predominantly occupying the most topical, new, and sought after roles.
Analysing the sector, Wilbury Stratton’s research team found only 8 % of roles relating to cloud technology were occupied by women, while they held just 9 % of roles in the development and operations space.
The research saw Wilbury Stratton assess 10 focus areas within Europe’s technology sector, analysing 50 job roles across 10 countries.
Wilbury Stratton provides talent intelligence services, data analysis, and market research to support organisations in building effective talent acquisition strategies.
The company’s research found that women make up 15 % of computing tech roles. In software areas they hold 19 % of positions and 22 % of jobs in consulting.
Meanwhile, the largest proportion of women in tech roles were in the product and management space, with a 46 % and 45 % share of jobs respectively.
Additionally, women made up 30 % of roles relating to data in the technology sector.
While these more traditional roles within the sector are seeing progress in balancing the gender split, there is a gap for the newer and often more desirable roles, Wilbury Stratton said.
The company highlighted how organisations who utilise talent insights can make effective hiring decisions with a view to closing the gap.
Talent intelligence data can play a vital role in developing diversity benchmarking, as well as effective succession planning and pipelining.
Additionally, talent insights can be a driving force behind market and competitor intelligence, executive search, and leadership assessment.
With talent acquisition currently an extremely competitive market, organisations are using insights so they can stand out to prospective talent and secure top leaders within the industry.
By employing data-driven decision making, companies can see where women are under-represented in their operations, evaluate their hiring practices, and assess where skills are required.
As a result, they can identify and attract leading-female talent who will help the company thrive moving forward.
Alex Cheney, director at Wilbury Stratton, said: “Closing the gender gap is something which is high on the agenda for many organisations within the technology sector, but achieving this while bringing in the right talent can be a challenge.
“Despite the percentages being low, the industry is making strides in this area with organisations promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives, creating mentorship programs, and fostering inclusive workplaces which will change this.
“Meanwhile, educational initiatives such as InnovateHer provide crucial resources to empower girls and women to pursue tech careers.
“For organisations looking to close the gap, Wilbury Stratton can support by providing in-depth talent insights which will allow them to attract top-level female employees, while also helping to build a work environment which will see them thrive moving forward. For any company interested, they should get in touch.”
Wilbury Stratton provides over a third of FTSE 100 companies with insights, strategic advice, and talent intelligence services. Operating a high-performance operation across the globe, the company holds offices in Brighton, London, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
