Increasing the opportunities for women in IT

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   By Asavin Wattanajantra, writer at Metia.

 

 

 

Technology is a male dominated sector. Work environments in IT can often be challenging for women - posing a lack of awareness, opportunity and support. This is something that needs to change if the barriers to women having a successful career in IT are to be removed.

Kevin Schofield, General Manager at Microsoft Research, is one person trying to make things better. In a blog post, he recognises that corporate commitment isn’t enough – there needs to be recognition that the game is rigged in favour of men, and something done to make this right.

In research we published, it was revealed that in the US between 2006 and 2018, only 29% of computing jobs will be filled by women. In recent statistics from the UK, women only fill 13% of science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs. These are quite shocking stats.

In an event held last May, we held the latest event in our Women in Business Leadership series in London. It was agreed that progress had been made, but there is a lot to do to reach an equal and diverse senior workforce in IT.

Women around the world need to be exposed more to the opportunities offered by computer science, and the exciting and impactful career rewards it can bring. Find out more at Microsoft Research.