Over 60% of UK female technology leaders have faced discrimination, with nearly half who have said that they did more than once, according to a report by software development firm AND Digital.
In a survey of over 200 women in tech, over 60% of women are also said to have witnessed discrimination in the workplace, too.
“I have had sexual abuse, verbal and physical,” said one respondent anonymously in the report. “I was a single mother and had conflicts on occasion with childcare and work…it was extremely difficult.”
Challenges women most often faced were feeling patronised by male colleagues, confronting discrimination and bias – particularly for women of colour – and needing to exert additional effort to establish credibility.
“I’ve worked in some places [globally] where I would go on stage and all the men would leave the audience. They didn’t care what I had to say,” added Lauren Hine, chief for UK marketing & alliances at AND Digital.
Almost 70% of the respondents agreed more could be done to make the workplace better for women in leadership.
This includes promoting more women internally, providing more training opportunities, and making choices based on merit instead of gender or race.
Despite this, two in three women believe leadership positions in their company are equally accessible to both men and women. And, four in five of the respondents believe that workplace dynamics have evolved positively over the years.
“For several years and certainly early in my career, I was the only woman in roles such as technology sales or leading IT departments,” said Bernadette Nixon, CEO of AI search engine firm, Algolia. “Today, I’m thrilled to see this landscape evolving.”
Nearly 90% of the women reported they enjoyed their role as a tech leader, and almost 80% felt they had succeeded in their role.
Despite this, the ratio of male to female tech leaders and workers has not altered much in 25 years.
While women make up around half of the UK workforce, only 24% of tech roles are filled by women. For tech leadership, that figure drops to just 5%.
On top of this, while nearly a third of tech startups are founded by women globally, in the UK, the figure drops to 7.5%.
“Businesses must also consider supporting women in leadership positions by providing them with the time and resources necessary to effectively mentor the next generation of leaders,” said Wendy Stonefield, London Hub Executive at AND Digital.
“Additionally, offering networking and mentoring programmes that connect women both within, and beyond their current organisation all count when it comes to building strong communities.”
Over a third of women felt their businesses lacked sufficient networking and mentorship programmes, while 40% expressed a desire to mentor others.
Earlier this year, for instance, a charity that supported women in the tech industry, Women Who Code, shut down due to a lack of funding, and a US non-profit community Girls in Tech also closed in July after 17 years for the same reason.
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