Societies have historically been shaped – and we regretfully add – by dividing activities between men and women. They play soccer, they play hockey. But luckily, those stale paradigms are becoming increasingly outdated and outdated. Women gain ground that always seemed reserved for men. One of them is technology, which today also has a plus: it is a thriving sector of the economy, rapidly growing, and with high salaries and which leaves the eternal gender wage gap in the past.
“Although parity between men and women working in areas related to technology has not yet been reached, the gap is narrowing. In Argentina, the industry is working very hard so that 40% of IT positions are occupied by women in 2030. According to the latest survey of the Permanent Observatory of the Software and Information Services Industry (OPSSI), in charge of CESSI, the figure has increased 4 points in the last 3 years, reaching 30.2% today”, he comments in this regard María Laura Palacios, Executive Vice President of CESSI, the chamber that brings together companies in the sector.
It should be noted that the software industry has a high labor demand and annually there are unfilled positions due to the shortage of talent. And you have an average income of more than $250,000. In addition, it is a key item for the economy due to its generation of added value and as a source of dollars from the export of knowledge. Today it employs some 140,000 registered workers and workers, and according to the sector, “there is no wage gap.” That is, men and women earn the same for the same position and task.
“You are seeing more and more women in technology positions and even in leadership positions of engineering teams. However, we start from a really disparate situation, which means that today, despite a great evolution, there is still a long way to go,” he says. Martina Pailhé, People Manager of MODO.
Technology: a man thing?
While it is true that there are still more men than women in the software industry, that reality is changing. The new generations of women are closer to technology from an earlier age. But it’s still missing.
Nadia Simón CX Regional Manager of OCP TECH brings up data from Women in Tech that reflect a positive evolution in some specific aspects. “For example, 61% confirmed in this edition that their organization maintains an active agenda to promote gender balance. The difference compared to 2019, the year of the previous edition of this survey, is impressive: at that time only 36% acknowledged that something was being done about it. In four years, this perception has almost doubled. On the other hand, 34% said that the IT gender gap could be fully closed within six to ten years. This is the option with the highest percentage. And although 8% maintain a pessimistic position and maintain that this gap will never be closed, the percentage of those who believe so has dropped five points since 2019.
For Judith Irusta, Chief People Officer of Quales, In technology, “women are underrepresented in technical positions, especially in engineering and data science roles, along with associated leadership positions.” And he explains that, for example, according to data from Google’s annual diversity report in 2021, women represent only 21% of software engineers and 17% of hardware engineers in the company. Additionally, women make up only 30% of employees in technical roles at Google overall.
“It is true that the culture and social norms of countries influence career decisions and the way women are perceived in the sector. But it is also important to identify that there are a series of structural barriers that can limit the participation of women in technology, such as the lack of role models, gender discrimination and the lack of development opportunities and their promotion”, she adds.
Pailhé joins this line by maintaining that “it is clear that it is 100% a social construction from hundreds of years ago and that today we have the great objective of breaking these stereotypes to lead more and more girls to evaluate engineering careers, numbers , statistics, etc as a career possibility.
“Although previously there was a very large stigma in which only men were associated with the technological and financial field, the latest CAF data published in 2022, ensure that in Latin America 30% of the personnel working in fintech companies are women : this demonstrates strong growth in the industry, which indicates that we are on the right path of development”, affirms Sol Fajardo, Chief People Officer of Grapefruit.
About, Natalia Jimenez, Deel’s regional manager for Latin America, Habla Hispana, adds: “The professional bias is beginning to be less, since the idea of professions “for men or for women” is less and less contemplated. That women participate more and more in technology is a reality, but there is still a long way to go and strongly encouraging their participation seems to be pending”.
The interviewees agree that beyond personal interest and effort, it is necessary for the IT sector and also education policies to actively participate in inspiring, motivating and accompanying young women so that they are protagonists of a highly qualified and key profession. in the era of the knowledge economy.
Source: Ambito
