Why women should seize technology
September 12, 2017
An international study indicates that the only way to achieve equality is to conquer technical positions in the digital world
“Paris 9 MAR 2017 - 08:40 CET For women to achieve equality in the new digital world they have to conquer technical work, seize the technology. This is one of the main conclusions of an international study of the consultant Roland Berger, which was presented in Paris on Thursday. Until now the new technologies have favored the entry into the labor market, the development of his career and his networks of professional contacts. But the biggest beneficiary is the organization of the company, which has gained flexibility, facilitating work reconciliation.”
The challenge that emerges from the Digital Equality report is to get more women involved in the technical work of the digital world, such as data encryption, computer science or artificial intelligence. "It's about women taking over new technologies," says Anne Bioulac, director of the study, which has been conducted over the Internet among 3,000 workers in different sectors - not just those related to new technologies - and 60 countries of the world. The participation of women has been favored - 73% of the total - 20% of respondents are students, 8% are entrepreneurs and 63% are employees, half of them in managerial positions.
"It is the only way women can participate on an equal footing with men in the technological conquests that contain tomorrow's career opportunities," the study concludes. "The implementation of active policies to recruit, promote and retain women in the most promising sectors is a prerequisite for real professional equality."
The report, made in collaboration with the publication La Journee de la Femme Digitale, and presented this March 9, on the occasion of the Digital Women's Day convened in Paris, stops in the three phases of the career, entry into business, professional development and promotion to positions of responsibility. For the 74% of the respondents, that the technologies facilitate the conciliation helps to achieve equality in the company. This is especially true of those who are most familiar with the digital world, such as entrepreneurs and managers, which indicates that they would benefit most from them. The study also recommends encouraging digital training for all employees, not just those in the higher categories.
Six out of ten men and women surveyed consider that companies that have already carried out digital transformation offer greater opportunities for women to develop. But this is not enough in the opinion of the interviewees. Thus, 81% of women believe that implementing a global equality promotion policy should be one of the top five priorities of their company (62% of men). By regions, the most favorable area to this type of policy is Southern Europe, and least Eastern Europe. And 75% of women believe that some kind of performance metrics (KPIs) need to be implemented on an equal footing (60% of men as well).
The survey also shows how gender stereotypes survive. Thus, 40% define "digital women" as those who use social networks, only 6% identify women as working in a technology company and only 3% associate the concept with a founding or working woman in a digital start up. From the comments of the respondents, the report also concludes that "digital women" are defined more by certain characteristics, such as being cooperative and open, when in the case of men it is related to the knowledge of technologies per se. "The key is that women are perceived less as users and more as creators of new technologies," summarizes Bioulac.
They have the potential to be so: a May 2016 Harvard Business Review article assures that 63% of start ups created by women outperform men's growing market value. However, here too the prism of gender is imposed, especially among women themselves: 72% of them consider women's digital companies or projects to be different from men's (56%). In general, they consider that they differ in attitude issues, as in their management approach (33%) and in the way they have to publicize their project (24%).
"To think that women's projects are by nature different is not a problem in itself," the study says. "But it can become one if it involves the confinement of women in some sectors in which they feel legitimate," he adds. And the reality seems to indicate this: 63% of the women who launch a start-up do so in the e-commerce sector and only 16% in that of computer programming, according to data from 2015-2016 of the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT).
Finally, the study stops at women's views regarding leadership positions in the company. This is where gender differences of opinion are most apparent: 53% of women feel they do not have equal access to management positions, whereas 66% of men believe that this is the case. 64% of women feel that their gender has been a brake on their career, among which 59% believe that new technologies have helped to try to overcome it.
The study also shows different sensitivities by geographical area: the United States and Canada are more enthusiastic about the ability of new technologies to close the gender gap, while being less sensitive to the difference (only 45% think that digital projects of women are different from those of men). Europe is at the opposite end (less optimistic and more likely to differentiate) and Asia is both optimistic and highly differentiated (up to 93% consider women's projects different).
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