The industry of technology offers an average salary of €37,660 for women with information technology (IT) profiles, that is, more than 15,000 euros than the average salary of Spanish women.
The technology consultant Experis has reached this conclusion through the report ‘Women and Technology. The challenge of the gender gap for IT profiles and proposals to correct it’, which was presented this Tuesday, October 25.
The study analyzes the needs of the technology sector in Spain, the opportunities it offers to professionals in this field, the challenges of the future regarding gender equality issues and the benefits of equity of male and female professionals in these organizations.
One of the highlights of this report is the one that refers to the opportunities for IT professionals in Spain, not only at the labor level and job offers, but also at the salary level.
In this sense, Experis has determined that the average remuneration of these women is 37,660 euros, which exceeds the average wage of women in Spain by more than 15,000 euros, which according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) is 22,467 euros.
In addition to a higher salaryanother of the factors that make the technology sector more attractive is the number of opportunities it offers, since, according to data from the report, it employs more than 530,000 people directly in Spain and its offer of vacancies doubles every two years.
So much so that, worldwide, 5.5 percent growth expected in the sector only by 2022, according to data collected by Gartner. To exemplify this need, Experis has detailed that only this year the IT sector needs more than 240,000 qualified professionals.
With this, remember that the dominant technologies for 2025 will be those related to ‘cloud’ environments, cybersecurity, automation and robotization of processes and environments.
Although this generation of opportunities, which increases more and more over time and began its rise as a result of the pandemic, associations and companies find it difficult to translate this demand for IT profiles in the Spanish economy into net employment, since there is a lack of qualified professionals.
In this sense, seven out of ten companies say they have problems when incorporating the profiles they need due to a shortage of talent which, in the case of women, is mainly due to three barriers.
The first one is education. Despite the fact that women represent 32.2 percent of the active population in Spain, there are not so many who opt for this sector, since data from the INE state that this ratio falls to 20.6 percent in these cases.
In general, technical careers attract less women and their representation in Vocational Training in Computing and Communication is lower, since this group only represents 11.52 percent of the total number of students.
At the university level, there are more women graduates (53%) than men but, in relation to graduates in computer science branches, they are the ones that surpass them in percentage (85%, compared to 15%).
Future generations do not offer a hopeful scenario either, since, when reflecting on their future prospects, only 5.2 percent of high school students hopes to work in IT professions, compared to 15.3 percent of students.
Another of the barriers highlighted in the inequality between men and women in IT profiles is the professional one. According to Experis, the cultural myth about computing as an activity that is best for men is added to the fact that women are usually selected for positions of lesser responsibility and salary.
Also, the study emphasizes that women are conditioned because of these social expectations ingrained from childhood and many find it necessary to abandon their careers to dedicate themselves to families and other domestic activities.
BREAK BARRIERS WITH TRAINING, REFERENCES AND VALUES
To comment on the challenges of the future and provide a vision of the current scenario of the IT sector, as well as the proposals for action to achieve real equality, Experis has organized the round table ‘Women who lead the way’.
In her, women directors from some technology companies have participated, such as Accenture’s Talent Strategist Lead Iberia, Maria Jose Vos; the vice president and director of Technologies and Development of Airbus Defense and Space, Belen Garcia Molano; the General Director of the Public Sector of Fujitsu Spain, Patricia Urbez; the Director of Operations at SAP Spain, Anna Oro; and the Data & AI Sales Leader for Spain, Greece, Portugal and Israel of IBM, Victoria Gomez.
The guests have commented on the alternatives proposed by the report to bring down these traditional barriers in education. For example, through the STEAM Alliance for Female Talent promoted by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and courses, as well as the so-called ‘bootcamps’.
“The lack of technological talent in general and of female talent in particular means that companies must anticipate and focus in different ways, such as creating bridges between VT centers and universities”, suggested Maria Jose Vos.
On the other hand, to break down the sociocultural barrier, Experis reminds us that it is essential to value female references from the past, such as Ada Lovlace, Hedy Lamarr or Grace Hopper. However, Anna Oro considers that another way to show the importance of female role models is to give visibility to women who already work in this sector.
“Leading the way is a responsibility as women leaders. We can do much more from our position offering ourselves as references […]. We must encourage women to recognize themselves and make their ambition visible. There is no social pressure in this sense and we must be the ones who do it ourselves, commented the director of operations at SAP Spain.
Finally, the guests made reference to the need to break down the professional barrier and offer diversity as a value, and they agreed that it is not enough to implement regulations, but that gender equality in companies must be taken into account. generates proven benefits.
Among them, a greater wealth of opinions and points of view, which speeds up and facilitates the fastest and most appropriate solution to the challenges that occur in the organization. Likewise, diversity makes companies more attractive when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent, as well as attract investment.
“We cannot allow ourselves that 51 percent of the population does not feel motivated by digital skills, since these will be necessary in 70 percent of jobs in 2030 and, therefore, key to the competitiveness of our productive fabric. We have the obligation to activate levers to attract female talent”, commented Patricia Urbez.
Bearing in mind that the sector demands more and more qualified professionals, the company has proposed a series of recommendations to speed up this process of change in favor of real equality.
Between them, a review of the selection processes, the active and real promotion of a diverse company culture, a remuneration policy and promotions without bias, regular training in equality policies and an analysis of the voluntary discharges of women.
