Only One Third of IT Workers in Europe Appear to be Women
By The It Job Board, PRNESunday, March 28, 2010
A European Survey Conducted by the IT Job Board Finds That the IT Sector is not Doing Enough to Attract and Retain Women in IT
LONDON, March 29, 2010 - According to The IT Job Board's, www.theitjobboard.co.uk, latest
European survey[1] findings, only one third (35%) of IT workers in Europe
appear to be women. However the feeling within the IT community is that this
is set to change. The survey highlighted that increasing numbers of women are
entering the IT sector across Europe, and that 45% of women in the UK and
Holland think this is set to increase.
The survey also found that 49% of women believe that working benefits and
conditions in IT could be improved, and although there has been an increase
in the number of women working in IT, 51% of women in the UK and 49% of women
in Holland believe that working conditions are not equal for men and women.
It seems that women in Belgium are struggling to find parity, 66% felt that
working conditions favoured their male colleagues.
90% of women across Europe believe that women do IT jobs just as well as
their male counterparts and 81% of women questioned believe that the industry
should do more to encourage a mix of male and female employees in IT.
However in the UK, the phrase "boys club" was given by survey respondents
on several occasions and it is clear that many women find it hard being a
female in such a male dominated environment.
Other surprising statistics the survey showed were as follows: - 49% of women in IT in the UK believe there are fewer opportunities open to them; - 20% claimed it was not important to have a mix of men and women working in the industry; and - 38% of women work in an IT department that has 1-3 women working in it.
Commenting on the survey, Alex Farrell, managing director of The IT Job
Board, said: "While the number of women in IT continues to grow, it seems
that there still isn't a level playing field. The dynamic needs to change in
order to attract and nurture women to fulfil their potential. There is still
a deep rooted "club for the boys" that will probably always exist, the
question is whether this "club" has a future for the masses."
Notes to editors
About The IT Job Board:
The IT Job Board group of companies was set up in April 2002
in recognition that recruitment in the IT sector was increasingly dominated
by the internet.
Today, The IT Job Board (www.theitjobboard.co.uk) is the UK's
biggest IT specialist recruitment website with over 23,500 vacancies
advertised (as at March 2010).
Online technology enables sophisticated targeting - for example by skill,
region or experience - of The IT Job Board's database of 800,000 IT
professionals. The company always tries to get closer to candidates either
via planned content campaigns, or through the use of social networks.
The site also offers employers services such as branded job
postings, a featured employer zone, targeted email campaigns and guidance on
advertising copy. The managed campaign service filters responses to provide
companies with a shortlist of applicants most suitable for the advertised
position.
www.theitjobboard.co.uk's clients include Yahoo,
Bloomberg, Accenture, SEGA and T-Mobile.
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[1] 618 surveyed on `Professional Networking' in the UK March 2010
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For further information, interviews and photography please contact: Lisa Whiting/Kathryn Hughes, Publicite Ltd, T: +44(0)20-8543-6582, E: l.whiting at publicite.co.uk
Tags: London, March 29, The IT Job Board, United Kingdom