Why women don’t want to work in the data industry
By Fay Capstick
A new study has shown that only a small fraction, 20%, of female graduates would consider working in the data industry. This week we will look at the problem of attracting women to the industry and what might be done to reverse this trend.
The study, as reported by HR News (https://hrnews.co.uk/just-1-in-5-female-students-are-considering-a-career-in-the-data-industry/), suggests that one of the problems (cited by 48%) is a lack of confidence in their science and maths skills leading to a belief that they would be unsuited to the work.
How big is the problem?
The data industry is nearly 90% male identifying (https://www.zippia.com/data-scientist-jobs/demographics/). This means that a huge potential workforce is not being tapped.
So what is data science?
Data science is a huge part of our data driven modern economy. Everything we do and interact with online is creating a huge amount of data that needs collecting, storing, managing and interpreting in order to help make decisions. Data scientists and data analysts work in roles that help achieve these goals.
A data scientist can work in many industries and they would be organising data and looking for patterns, using algorithms to compile software to extract useful data, creating reports and suggesting solutions to related problems.
Why aren’t women wanting to work in the industry?
Lack of awareness: Young women and women wanting a career change might not be aware of the opportunities a career in data could offer.
Workplace atmosphere and culture: Any workplace that is predominantly cis-male can feel like an off putting environment for women to work in. A survey has found that 62% of women have experienced a toxic work environment in the tech industry (https://www.uktech.news/guest-posts/women-tech-companies-reasons-20220324). Figures like these will not encourage women into the sector.
Female STEM graduates just aren’t interested: Fortune reports a study showing that even among female STEM graduates there is little interest in working in the tech industry (https://fortune.com/2014/10/23/female-workers-tech-industry/). Therefore qualified female graduates in STEM subjects isn’t the problem. There is enough of them - they just don’t want to work in tech jobs. Plus research shows that even if they do start work in tech jobs, they tend to quickly leave the industry (with a rate of more than half in the first year).
What can be done to help?
More education and promotion: This should be done from secondary school upwards to make everyone aware of the jobs available and the skills required. Young people would like to know exactly what jobs are available and what their working life might be like if they pursued a career in this area.
Make it real: Students need to be made aware of the types of problems that they could be working on if they worked in data science. Making the role tangible is one way to shine a spotlight on this career.
Be relatable: Bring women working in this STEM area into schools and universities to engage with students. Employers can make a huge impact here as these tangible interactions are the ones most likely to trigger a shift in the composition of the industry.
Male workplace: It can be daunting for women to enter a male dominated workplace. Employers need to make sure that the work environment is suitable and inclusive for all.
Caring duties: Working patterns need to offer flexibility to meet the needs of those that might have caring duties or disabilities. Childcare provisions would make a significant difference to the lives of mothers wanting to work.
Positive discrimination: Employers should consider positive discrimination when it comes to applicants, particularly for junior and apprentice roles. This is one way that the industry workforce can be balanced.
Conclusion
The data industry needs to be inclusive for everyone. To help achieve this it would be useful if schools and colleges could better promote the types of jobs and opportunities available and the skills required. Positive role models would help, so young women could see others like themselves succeeding in this field.
Final thoughts
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