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TECH HAS A DIVERSITY problem, and always had one to begin with.
With more companies releasing their own diversity reports in recent times, the demographics are skewed heavily towards men.
Google, Facebook, and Twitter are just a few examples of where this is the case and when you’re dealing with products that are used by a large number of people from different backgrounds, it doesn’t make sense that only one demographic shapes them.
It’s not a problem that’s going to be solved overnight, instead this is a long-term problem that will see gradual solutions being introduced.
There are initiatives that are trying to address this imbalance. Organisations like WITS (women in technology and science) try to bring women into this industry and retain them, while others like InspireFest hope to help by bringing these individuals to the fore.
The latter is an event run by Silicon Republic, bringing these different groups together. It’s something its CEO Ann O’Dea and her co-founder Darren McAuliffe have been working on for years after seeing the vast majority of panels dominated by men.
After finding this to be “incredibly boring”, they started running leadership events for women six years ago before, both to highlight those in the sector and to highlight the usual excuse of panel organisers claiming they weren’t able to find women to participate.
While the main focus is women in tech, O’Dea calls it a “kaleidoscope of diversity” not only dealing with gender, but with minority groups like LGBT.
The other important element was including the arts as well, a sector that regularly overlaps with science and technology since the latter has become a major part of our day-to-day lives.
Purposely, it’s quite wide. To break down the silos of science and technology is one part because the convergence is so massive now. A lot of these events are either very web-based or they’re very academic so we’re trying to mix the academic with the futuristic with the creative because all of these people should be working together. We’re amazed at how these people haven’t met before… [even when it's] just the Irish audience.”
Although when events or initiatives like this emerge, so too do the criticisms. The obvious two are if someone is good enough for a position, they’ll be hired regardless of gender or background, or that such initiatives portray men to be the enemy.
Dealing with the latter, such issues are solved by involving everyone and it was essential that it wasn’t an event only for women. Of the 2,000 people attending, 30% are male which O’Dea finds encouraging, but while the problem is complex, the immediate answer was anything but.
“There are all sorts of societal pressures, the whole issue is so complex,” says O’Dea. “But for us, it was incredibly simple that you only change the ratio and environment. If people get used to seeing, not token women, but seeing the very capable, remarkable women at their tech events, the more it becomes normalised.”
It shouldn’t be relevant if you’re male or female, it should only be relevant if you’re remarkable.
Also, qualifications is only a part of the hiring process, and no matter how independent and logical you are, you are inevitably going to be influenced by your environment and experiences, both the positive and negative.
While it may be true that the majority of software developers are male, that perception alone can dissuade women from getting involved (If you wanted an inverse example from a different industry, most primary school teachers tend to be female which in turn can result in the same conclusion for men).
The other problem isn’t getting women or minorities into the industry, it’s keeping them there.
Work isn’t just about having a set of skills, the culture of a workplace, people’s attitudes towards each other, and even unconscious bias, our beliefs and values that are established from our lives, play a role and can determines how certain demographics are treated on a day-to-day basis.
That’s a more difficult problem to address and one without a clear answer. For now, it’s a case where chipping away at it, and gradually breaking down the barriers that surround this is the best approach, according to O’Dea.
“They’re [women] leaving exactly at a time where we need talent, we can’t afford for any area to be leaving a sector as big as tech and science so those small things are incredibly important,” explains O’Dea.
I don’t think you can put that too much into people’s faces as they’ll clam up and they’ll forget, but if you gradually wear people down by ensuring that in their sector that it becomes unacceptable, that is the only way you’re going to make a change in my view.
Ultimately, such changes are going to be gradual and while there’s still a long way to go, there are reasons to be optimistic. The recent referendum on same-sex marriage shows that the majority of Irish people are inclusive and could also set a similar trend for the tech industry.
Ultimately, it’s a matter of being open to the idea that our definition of ‘normal’ might not be as normal as we once thought.
“In Ireland, we’re pushing an open door to some extent. I do think there is much less inequality and misogyny in Ireland and the yes vote is a really good sign that Irish people are welcoming.”
“Ireland has an opportunity to lead the way here, we could be the opposite of Silicon Valley where they have the opposite problem of misogyny and women leaving tech. Ireland can be a place where we do the opposite, I really do think so.
InspireFest is a three-day event taking place in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from 18 – 20 June.
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choosing the best person for the job should be the decision, not the most diverse.
Not as simple as that. Sorry for the broad brushstrokes but men have a tendency to overstate themselves and their abilities, women undersell themselves (there is research to back this up). Jennie, I hardly think IT is an area you can count as ‘more suited to men’. There is nothing physical about IT, it is intellectually challenging and rewarding. And there is a whole group dedicated to increasing numbers of men in childcare cslled funnily enough ‘Men in Childcare’. Gender balance is advantageous in many sectors for many different reasons.
Try moving a racking a few servers in a comms room. there is some physical aspects to it.
Sorry Jennie, there is no reason why a woman cannot be a mechanic…there are already quite a few in Ireland.
I spent most of my teenage years tinkering with cars. I had no problems at all. Actually male special needs assistants and childcare workers do complain about not being able to find worK. The truth is my son would love a male assistant. So let’s make sure that jobs are open to all and forget ” best suited” nonsense.
That is only 1 small sector within IT. Software development is all brain no braun.
@db: a company pays good salaries to IT engineers. Is it a good use of their skills and time to have them hauling heavy pieces of equipment, be they male or female? Get somebody else, paid to do hauling and heavy lifting
I am not saying female mechanics don’t exist. I am saying while I enjoy working on cars I often need my husbands help for the bigger jobs. He is stronger than me. its that simple. yes I can change a tyre myself. service the car myself but if I were a mechanic I would be asking men to help me complete other jobs thus taking them away from their work. men in the childcare sector are needed. I agree with that. my point was simply that it is presently female orientated and men don’t give out about it. finally yes the tech industry is more mind motivated. men and woman have different ways of thinking. men are more interested in the working of things whereas women tend to be happier just with the knowledge that something will work when requested. I am not saying there aren’t exceptions. just simply that there are reasons there are male and female oriented jobs.
@Alan it’s not viable. I’ve seen top level guys do this type of work.
“but if I were a mechanic I would be asking men to help me complete other jobs thus taking them away from their work.”
That’s you Jennie….putting your own limitations on every other female in the country.
If you can do the job and want to, then there should be no barriers, gender or otherwise, to stop you pursuing the career you want. Not every woman is weak and not every man is strong.
@ Jenni.. would concerned about a woman with PMT tightening MY nuts, that’s for sure :)
Some people need to look up the meaning of misogyny. It has nothing to do with women in the work place
the title has changed it was to do with diversity in the work place. mainly gender diversity
Hi Jennie, I believe there is some truth in what you are saying (and I would expect slightly more males in engineering type jobs in a perfect world).
But the problem is that the trend is massively reinforced by stereotypes.
And the stereotyping starts with kids (toys & family expectations) and just continues.
Because of this problem, we miss having some of the best people in the right jobs (and brilliant people end up with unfulfilling careers).
We need to encourage girls into STEM, and I think those 3 young scientists did Ireland a massive service by showing everyone that girls can be brilliant scientists.
Alan.
as soon as a man is left alone with a child society thinks he is a pedofile. thats just not going to change. men arent really welcome in the childcare industry
Funny there’s so little discussion of the diversity problem in the bin-collection industry.
Or any job that involves being outside in the rain, wind and cold.
Is there a shortage of labour in those industries?
There are jobs available regularly if that’s what you mean.
Or deep sea trawlers , or the mining industry etc etc etc ad nauseam.
The wages are gone through the roof? Are they recruiting internationally, and is the labour shortage often cited as one of the risks to the growth of one of our high value export industries?
The it sector is a good job, pays well and I think the article is trying to solve why there’s still not more women involved. I think it’s a valid question. My opinion is that generally women probably are not best suited to it.
The wages in male dominated unskilled and semi skilled sectors are usually better paid than the female dominated sectors. Men tend to be more financially motivated, hence they tend to do s*hitiet jobs in return for better wages. Not doubt there’s a skills shortage in the IT sector, but this mantra that it’s down to sexism alone is on shakey ground. It’s well documented that women in general prefer people orientated jobs, while men prefer jobs dealing with systems. The first step to getting a career in IT is to qualify in the field, and nobody, make or female can be forced to do that. As long as the hiring of male and graduates is proportional then any accusations of sexism are misplaced.
Yeah they probably are, though being the only woman in a male dominated env is probably not easy. Also I don’t see the harm in highlighting women who have succeeded as a role model to potential future candidates.
It’s no harm at all. The ultimate goal should be for everyone to be satisfied with their career choice. As long as the options are there for whoever wants them then there is equality, even if the outcomes aren’t evenly split.
There’s also misandry out there too.
On the point re: men in education. During the dot com and construction booms fewer men went in to teaching courses because good jobs that paid better were available elsewhere. Now, the numbers have risen because the job security and salary of teaching is more competitive with the private sector. The author seems to forget that money matters much more to men than women in general.
Our conversation was deleted. As usual, when reason is applied to feminism the only defence is censorship.
Reason is treason. Perhaps Quinton could be a dear and explain what our breach of the comment section rules was. I
Click bait bullshit. Quintin, you should be ashamed of this propaganda rubbish.
A lot less misogyny but a lot more misandry.
How are the education and childcare industries doing?
I guess my post was too reasonable and had to be deleted?
I honestly have no idea what that article is about
Try rural Ireland.
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