Women in tech face bias and career curbs — study

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Author: Chris Keall
• Publication title: New Zealand Herald, The (Auckland, New Zealand)

The research, conducted by Meena Satishkumar, founder of new non-profit Tech Beyond Gender, found

• 48 per cent said they faced situations where gender influenced their opportunities for career advancement;

• 7 per cent said their gender had significantly limited their opportunities;

• 48 per cent had encountered “gender-related microaggression”.

“Microaggression” was defined as “a subtle, often unintentional, and indirect form of discrimination or bias that communicates derogatory or negative messages to individuals based on their gender or personal characteristics”.

From her experience working in senior tech roles in banking, and interviews with the 200 women surveyed, Satishkumar told the Herald tech had balanced recruitment out of universities.

But once women and gender minorities got into their 30s, training, networking and mentoring opportunities could be harder to access than for male colleagues. “And if you do get to a conference, there are few opportunities for women to present.”

The result was that there were few female candidates for senior tech roles like principal engineer or solution architect.

“We have to stop the leaky pipe,” she said.

There needed to be sensitivity training, and organisations had to stop being shy of discussing the issue, she said. More mentoring and training opportunities for women and gender minorities were also needed.

A major survey of New Zealand’s tech workforce, carried out by MBIE and NZTech in the midst of the pandemic, found major diversity challenges. Only 27 per cent of the IT workforce is female, only 4 per cent Māori and only 2.8 per cent Pacific people. A limited pool of candidates was exacerbating a skills squeeze.

Some areas of tech are particularly challenged. A 2023 NZ Game Developers Association member survey found video game makers had just 22 per cent female staff.

This week, NZTech CEO Graeme Muller — whose organisation counts most tech firms in New Zealand among its members — said “the tech sector is very aware of its diversity challenge”.

Things were heading in the right direction. “Back at the turn of the century it was estimated that only 20 per cent of the tech workforce were female. By 2017 this had improved to 27 per cent of the workforce, and the 2022 survey saw...