Women, left behind in the technology industry

The number of women in the workforce, in the fields of technology, records low levels in Panama and Latin America.

According to the PageGroup Women in Technology survey, in Panama 5% of positions in the information technology industry are held by women, while in the region they occupy only between 21 and 40% of the total number of jobs.

The study emphasizes that the lack of women leaders in technology in the region is mainly caused by the lack of applications from women (38%). lack of opportunities for talent (37%), lack of talent with the necessary knowledge (25%) and lack of experience needed to fill the position (17%).

Hansel Martin, associate manager of Michael Page IT, Digital & eCommerce, emphasizes that gender equality at work is a key aspect not only in economic matters, but also for the development of innovation processes within companies.

“Diversity is a business asset. The gender imbalance in technology is a big loss for companies because recent research has proven that diversity in the workplace allows you to interact more effectively with customers and stakeholders,” said Martin.

Accordingly, she added that women can access enhanced capabilities in areas where they are particularly strong, such as problem solving and emotional intelligence.

Research has shown that only 26% of companies in Latin America have programs to retain and attract talented women.’

9

trillion euros annually in world GDP would represent a greater participation of women.

5%

positions in the technology industry are held by women in Panama.

Organizations, however, are beginning to implement a number of strategies to encourage the employment of women in the technology sector, where working with educational institutions is key to motivating women to study careers related to this industry.

According to UNESCO, the international trend is that only 3 out of 10 people in science and technology are women. In Latin America, the ratio of women studying STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and math) vs. of men it reached 44%.

Women would not consider technology as a possible career, in part because they do not have a guide that suggests technology as a viable option.

While 33% of men surveyed say they’ve been offered a career in tech, the figure for women is 16%, a lack of mentorship that helps reinforce stereotypes of a male-dominated industry.

In Latin America, various strategies are used to close the gender gap in the technology sector.

In Central America, 40% of companies use a bank of diverse candidates as a source of recruitment regardless of gender, age or training within the organization.

According to the survey, 24% of companies ensure that a percentage of women participate in shortlisting candidates, and 17% use various technological tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to avoid biases and give the process more impartiality. .

Among the strategies used by companies to encourage the employment of women in IT are: hiring more women through hiring processes without unconscious biases (51%), communicating to women from an early age the benefits of working in this sector to study STEM programs (50%), provide more opportunities for advancement (40%), offer flexible working to women to encourage them to take an interest in technology (38%), create more training programs that include mentoring and re-entry options (34%) and use targeted ads to encourage more women to enter the world of technology (29%).

32% of gender imbalance comes directly from employers, highlighting the key role organizations play in driving change in gender inequality.

Diversity is a business advantage. The gender imbalance in technology is a big loss for companies.

This puts them in a unique position to drive this change, with 12% of respondents saying organizations need to transform to bridge the gaps.

Research by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) reveals that greater participation of women in the technology industry would add €9 trillion to global GDP per year.

In the United States, for example, GDP would increase by 26% if it were possible to guarantee gender equality between men and women in this area.

Technology is a fundamental part of everything that is done, so it is important that women have equal weight as men in its evolution. In fact, half of the users who use it are women.