— From the report of a new study about women in technology conducted by Harvey Nash in partnership with ARA.
The 2017 study explores IT career milestones, from when interest first develops to deciding when it’s time to move on. It also examines the factors that impact everyday work experiences, from internal doubts to external roadblocks.
Among the key findings of the study, subtitled “Overcoming Obstacles and Unlocking Potential,” are the following:
- Men start exploring a technical career path earlier. More than any other point in their lives, males first become interested in an IT career in high school. Females’ interest peaks much later, at their first job.
- Among people succeeding in tech today, a STEM degree is not a prerequisite. However, there’s agreement that if more girls became interested earlier in STEM studies, the numbers of women in the field would increase.
- Two thirds of men (67%) think women are underrepresented in technology. A full 94% of women do. A possible reason for this disparity is that women perceive certain tech fields as having a pervasive “brogramming” culture.
Harvey Nash is a firm that provides IT recruiting, IT outsourcing/offshoring, and executive search solutions. ARA is an organization that was founded eight years ago to attract women to the field of information technology, retain relationships with women in the information technology industry, and advance the role of women in the information technology community.