How can you drive change in the female workplace in your company?

In 2007, the Organic Law for Effective Equality between men and women was adopted in Spain, a breakthrough for gender equality in the work environment. But, despite this, the law was not put into practice until 2015. By 2023, IT companies will have barely 20.6% female participation. Do you want to know how your company can break down the barriers to improving the female work environment? Then this article is for you!

What barriers do women face in the work environment?

Finding a job is much more difficult for women than for men around the world. In most cases, women tend to be in low-level positions and in vulnerable conditions.

Today, there is an employment gap that affects the entire world. The current rate of women’s participation in the world’s workforce is 49%.

On the other hand, the figure for men is 75%, showing that there is a difference of approximately 26% in terms of getting a job.

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How does the gap affect the technology and information workforce in Spain?

By 2023, some 240,000 professionals trained in information technology (IT) are expected to join the workforce. Positions that will be filled, for the most part, by men. 

In the active population of Spain, the presence of women represents 32.2%, but in the IT sector it only reaches a ratio of 20.6%, which indicates that female tech employment is far below that of men. This is why it is important to think about the benefits generated by the active participation of women in this sector.

For example, productivity, stability and commitment in teams. In addition, it would make room for other leadership models that would make any company a more attractive option for customers. These qualities should be more than enough to encourage companies to hire female tech staff.

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What barriers do companies need to remove to hire female ICT employees?

More than 70% of companies interested in hiring female ICT staff report problems in recruiting potential female employees. Many experts have shown that this is caused by three barriers that they are unable to remove in order to recruit:

Educational barrier. 

Studies show that while 53% of Spanish university graduates are women, only 15% majored in computer science.

For this reason, formal education should be reviewed, both at the university and professional levels. At the same time, other resources should be promoted to train professionals and provide them with the skills they need to enter the labor market.

At this point, companies are encouraged to opt for technological solutions and to create new training spaces that serve to boost the recruitment of women in the field of information technology.

Sociocultural barrier.

It is perhaps the barrier that must be eliminated from the beginning in order to promote women in the field of technology, because this barrier fosters false myths about the predisposition of some careers according to your gender. 

This barrier fosters the collective ideal that “men are born with a biological predisposition to study technology”. While “women have more capacity for other types of more humanistic careers”.

Professional barrier.

This is perhaps one of the barriers where the ideal IT professional is male. This remains strongly rooted in the generalized thinking of society.

In this part, the only solution is to put in place, and more actively, gender diversity policies that help in the creation of a talent and innovation ecosystem that benefits men and women alike.

How can your company motivate change in the female technology work environment?

For your company to be part of the change and promote women in the ICT workplace, it must act in an active and committed way. Therefore, you should seek actions such as:

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If you are interested in being part of this great movement that boosts women in the workplace. Contact us through our email tasconsultoria@tas-sl.es. Our excellent consultants will be able to help you achieve the social change that will lead your company to success. Don’t wait any longer and request your free trial.