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More efforts to improve gender equality in tech

Gender equality Skills supply Womentor
The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) recently presented a report that identifies challenges and proposes measures to increase gender equality in the IT sector. The report is part of the government's assignment to collaborate on the supply of digital excellence.

- "This is a well-researched report that highlights the complexities of gender equality in IT, and should be read by all those involved in the issue. Without taking into account the complexity, the efforts made risk being ineffective, or at worst counterproductive," says Ana Andric, industrial policy expert at IT&Telecomföretagen.

The report is based on analyses of statistics, research, reports and other written material from authorities and interest groups. It is also based on interviews with experts in the field and with women with a higher education in IT who, for various reasons, have left or never started working in an IT-related profession.

- The results show a welcome increase in the proportion of women graduating from IT courses. At the same time, it is worrying that an increasing proportion of women also say that "IT is not for them". This places particular demands on us in the industry to be attractive, both to apply for tech jobs and, perhaps even more importantly, to stay in them," continues Ana Andric.

IT&Telecom companies are conducting active and long-term work to improve gender equality in the industry. This is important, not least in order to capture the skills and talent that are a key part of the success of member companies and the industry.

One of several initiatives to address the gender imbalance in the industry is the Womentor change and leadership program, which has been running since 2006. The goal for the companies in the Womentor program is to achieve a gender balance, where no gender makes up less than 40%, by 2025 and for the entire tech industry by 2030. Similarly, the proportion of female managers should be at least 40% by 2030. The program has shown good results where participating companies have a more positive development regarding gender equality.

- In line with the need for a wide range of measures highlighted by the report, IT&Telekomföretagen is actively working to broaden its efforts further, including by producing a guide to gender equality in tech aimed at employers in the industry. The guide aims to disseminate best practices to Swedish tech companies to encourage more women to join and remain in the industry. A first version was presented in August," concludes Ana Andric.