The number of women working in the IT profession has
plummeted by 26,000 over the past 12 months, pushing down the
proportion of females in the IT workforce from 23% to
20%.
The total fell from 232,900 to 207,213, despite an overall rise in
the workforce, an analysis of government employment statistics has
revealed.
The decline represents an acceleration in a long-term trend which
has seen the proportion of women in the profession fall from 26% to
20% since 1999. It has led to renewed fears that women are still
being put off by IT's "techie" image and unsocial working hours,
despite campaigns to stress the importance of management and
communication skills.
IT directors said the trend could spark a skills shortage as the
jobs market recovers. "Quite soon we are going to go up the hiring
curve. If we are not attracting 50% of the workforce, we will be
experiencing a skills shortage," said Maggie Miller, Sainsbury's
business transformation director.
"It is certainly worrying if the talent pool decreases," said Jenny
Sener, IT director at OCS Group.
Research by E-Skills UK shows that women are deterred at an early
age, with 94% of schoolgirls saying they would not consider it as a
career. But the problem has been exacerbated by the difficulties
women face returning to work after career breaks to bring up
children, said Karen Price, chief executive of E-Skills UK.
Philip Virgo, former director of the now defunct Women In IT
campaign, said the lack of tax breaks for childcare in the UK was
accelerating the decline.
Miller said women often have the softer skills employers are
looking for in IT staff, including team working, the ability to
communicate with customers and a strong focus on using IT to meet a
business purpose. "If the UK industry is to be at the leading edge,
it needs a lot more than technical skills - and quite often those
skills are associated with women."