Issues facing women

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Issues facing women in ICT Careers 5 February
2007 Anita Prabhu MACS AIMM Director, ACS-W Board
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ACS-W Policy

• The ACS has an obligation to the Australian
  community to bring about economic, social and
  intellectual benefits through a higher
  participation of women in ICT.
• At national, state and regional levels, the ACS
  commits to create and support initiatives that
  encourage the entry, development and retention of
  women in ICT professions generally and within the
  ACS.
• Passed unanimously by ACS National Council,
• November 2002

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Agenda

• Impact of ICT
• Gartners advice to ICT Managers
• How are women placed today
• How women can impact the industry
• Advantages for women
• James Cook University survey findings
• What are the issues
• Who are the stakeholders what can they
  influence?

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Impact of ICT

• The ICT industry is global.
  It services industries and
  individuals around the globe
• Fast growing and changing
• Vital to social and economic development
• Strong impact on employment, GNP as well as
  competitiveness in global marketplace
• How Australia is placed in a global market

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Gartners advice to ICT Managers

• Kathy Harris, VP, Gartner Inc ITxpo, Cannes
  (Govt Technology, 8 Nov)
• 'New world' business practice is dominated by
  globalization, relationships, communities and
  collective decision making and is better suited
  to women than men.
• CIOs worldwide are increasingly focused on
  recruiting people who can build relationships
  across multiple stakeholders, cultures and
  orientations.

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Gartners advice to ICT Manager (contd.)

• They risk failure in many global initiatives if
  they are not able to attract and retain talented
  women in their IT organizations. CIOs currently
  don't seem to be aware that social networking
  systems, vendor and portfolio management,
  collaborative knowledge work and several other
  areas in IT that would benefit from typically
  female capability traits.
• We are on the brink of a true global environment,
  diversity is not an 'HR initiative' but an
  inherent factor in every exchange, conversation
  or meeting.

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Gartners advice to ICT Manager (contd.)

• Organizations that fail to acknowledge the value
  of women in the workplace are increasing the risk
  of project, business and professional failure.
• At the same time, the number of women in the IT
  profession is declining. By 2012, 40 percent of
  women in the IT workforce will leave traditional
  IT career paths and move aggressively into
  business, functional and research development
  processes or entrepreneurial ventures.

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Gartners advice to ICT Managers (contd.)

• The solution is to change the game. Given the
  ambitious business drivers ahead of them,
  businesses and IT organizations specifically
  can't afford to miss their objectives because
  they fail to attract half the talent base.
  Diversity is not common sense or an issue of
  policy it's business survival.

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How are women placed today

• To remain globally competitive Australia needs to
  nurture, develop, retain and diversify our ICT
  workforce
• Australian women are currently under-represented
  in ICT education and employment, comprising less
  than 25 per cent of students and 20 per cent of
  employees respectively.

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How women can impact the industry

• Skills we bring
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Multi tasking
• Project management
• Emotional intelligence
• Left and right brain balance

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How women can impact the industry(contd)

• Changes we can make an impact on
• Influence change in work practices
• Make the industry more outward looking
• More in context
• Bring your broad interests
• Balance in the workforce

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Advantages for women

• Flexibility Work/life balance
• Empowerment
• Travel opportunities
• Creativity
• Contribution
• Remuneration
• Can work in different industries

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James Cook University survey findings

• Survey findings of 289 women in ICT
• More than one in 10 women in an ICT industry
  experiences blatant discrimination, and more than
  half say the ICT culture creates subtle
  discrimination
• More than a third said important decisions were
  made outside the office, and 20 per cent said
  their workplace culture excluded them from
  non-work socialising that was necessary for
  career advancement.
• Almost 20 per cent said they need to act
  masculine to get their own way.

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James Cook University survey findings

• More than 40 per cent said they were held to a
  higher standard then their male peers. "Be
  prepared to work your butt off while others
  around you snooze".
• Many respondents complained of a "silicon
  ceiling". "Keep up with the latest technical
  trends if you want respect from your male peers.
  To advance in the ICT industry you have to work
  harder than your male peers."

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What are the issues?

• Equity in pay promotion
• Recognition of work
• Inclusive in social activities
• Inclusive in meetings
• Work/life balance
• Return to work
• Flexible workplace

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Who are the stakeholders and what can they
influence?

• Organisation equity, diversity, flexible
  workplace, return to work policies, performance
  management, recruitment promotion systems
• Manager change agent, be inclusive,
  recognition, equity, work/life balance, celebrate
  leverage diversity, flexible workplace,
  mentoring coaching, training
• Team set ground rules to be inclusive, give due
  recognition

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Who are the stakeholders and what can they
influence? (contd.)

• Self ask about employers policies systems,
  get clear performance indications measurements,
  be a change agent - set expectations for cultural
  change, re-confirm verbal commitments in writing,
  be assertive, negotiate well, identify your work
  with your name contact details, network
  informally, initiate/cooperate in workplace
  social structures, pre-plan family time and
  celebrations to make up for projects and study
  time
• Family make allowances for your project and
  study schedules, support you

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Who are the stakeholders and what can they
influence? (contd.)

• Professional Association (ACS)
• Influence governments employers
• Support you through awareness programs
• Encourage change in workplace culture
• Professional development
• Networking opportunities
• Avenues for mentoring

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More Information

• Australian Computer Society
• http//www.acs.org.au/
• ACS-W
• http//www.acs-w.org/
• http//www.acs.org.au/nsw/wit/

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Australian Computer Society Level 3, 160 Clarence
Street Sydney NSW 2000 Tel [phone] Fax
[phone] Email itprofessional_at_acs.org.au