Paul Boughton
According to a recent survey carried out by The IT Job Board (1), the UK's IT specialist job site (2), fewer than than one fifth (19 per cent) of IT candidates are women.
Comparing the statistics with a similar survey run in March 2011, the number of women in IT has increased by 3 per cent.
However, Alexandra Farrell, managing director of The IT Job Board, continues to express her concerns regarding what is still a very low proportion of women working in the IT sector.
She comments: "It is encouraging to see that in the past year the number of women working in IT has increased, but we are still far from achieving a 'level playing field'.
"International Women's Day presents the perfect platform to highlight the issue surrounding the lack of women in the UK's IT sector. I firmly believe that players across the industry need to work harder to attract more women into IT careers. They need to champion female workers at all levels, in order to develop the talent pipeline for the future."
The IT Job Board's survey also highlighted other interesting findings which could potentially impact the numbers of women seeking a career in IT. These include:
* More than half of The IT Job Board's candidates have 10 years' or more experience.
Alexandra Farrell adds: "Clearly, experience goes a long way, but we need to do more to attract young people into IT careers, and I believe nurturing female talent at this early stage is vital. Schools and universities have a role to play in encouraging girls to train in courses which will support and persuade them to pursue a career in IT."
* One third of survey respondents claim to work longer hours, compared with this time a year ago.
Alexandra Farrell comments: "Longer working hours present an issue when it comes to aspects of childcare, and this could potentially act as a deterrent to working parents."
(1) January 2012, User Profile survey - 1,982 respondents.
(2) 17,021 jobs advertised, as at 7th March, 2012.
For more information, visits www.theitjobboard.co.uk
Comparing the statistics with a similar survey run in March 2011, the number of women in IT has increased by 3 per cent.
However, Alexandra Farrell, managing director of The IT Job Board, continues to express her concerns regarding what is still a very low proportion of women working in the IT sector.
She comments: "It is encouraging to see that in the past year the number of women working in IT has increased, but we are still far from achieving a 'level playing field'.
"International Women's Day presents the perfect platform to highlight the issue surrounding the lack of women in the UK's IT sector. I firmly believe that players across the industry need to work harder to attract more women into IT careers. They need to champion female workers at all levels, in order to develop the talent pipeline for the future."
The IT Job Board's survey also highlighted other interesting findings which could potentially impact the numbers of women seeking a career in IT. These include:
* More than half of The IT Job Board's candidates have 10 years' or more experience.
Alexandra Farrell adds: "Clearly, experience goes a long way, but we need to do more to attract young people into IT careers, and I believe nurturing female talent at this early stage is vital. Schools and universities have a role to play in encouraging girls to train in courses which will support and persuade them to pursue a career in IT."
* One third of survey respondents claim to work longer hours, compared with this time a year ago.
Alexandra Farrell comments: "Longer working hours present an issue when it comes to aspects of childcare, and this could potentially act as a deterrent to working parents."
(1) January 2012, User Profile survey - 1,982 respondents.
(2) 17,021 jobs advertised, as at 7th March, 2012.
For more information, visits www.theitjobboard.co.uk
