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Half of the young women techies in the US quit their jobs by the age of 35, discouraged by non-inclusive work culture, according to a survey by consulting firm Accenture.
“Women who leave tech roles in the workforce, or who are likely to leave in the near future, identify a non-inclusive company culture as the major driver,” the report titled ‘Resetting Tech Culture’ said.
The report recommends factors like diverse and bold leadership, respect and encouragement, flexibility in work timing and location can help retain women in the technology jobs.
Some companies have ramped up their efforts to reduce the gender bias, it noted.
The study also said two thirds of all those it surveyed felt industry leaders have failed to create empowering workplaces where people have a sense of belonging.
This is evident from the fact that the proportion of women techies have declined to 32% in 2020, from 35% in 1984.
Accenture estimates computing roles in the U.S. have grown 10 times faster than the average growth of all job roles, in the last three decades. The demand for cybersecurity experts in the U.S. surged 50% in 5 years to more than 3 lakh skilled workforce required.
The research shows that providing an inclusive work environment without a gender bias would bring more women into the burgeoning field.
This will also mitigate problems such as algorithmic or product design bias, which inevitably creeps in due to lack of diversity.
It can also help narrow the gender pay gap. Median salary for tech roles are about twice as high as those for other roles.
