Women and IT
8th March is International Womens Day, and every year, someone reminds me of that fact, and asks why I have not been promoting it. Particularly this year, as it celebrated its 100th year. And yesterday, as usual, I forgot it, until someone reminded me.
Why do I not promote International Womens Day? Well, I like to think its because I am too busy being an ‘international woman' to remember that it is happening. This made me think about the role of women in IT Service Management, and IT generally.
I am not a great believer in positive discrimination for women in the workplace, which may come as surprise for those who know me. I have always believed that the workplace should be entirely based on the capability of the person to perform the task in hand, and positive discrimination doesn't always put the best person forward. My father (a retired Canon in the Church of England) was always strongly in favour of allowing women into the Ministry, but his problem was that the women who put themselves forward were not always the ‘right people' for the job. So his objection was not based on the gender bias, but on the individual – I follow my fathers thinking in this.
So International Womens Day leaves me with very mixed feelings. Yes, we should promote and be proud of the capability of women in the world – but there is considerably less fuss made of International Mens Day (19th November). Positive discrimination makes me uncomfortable. I started working in IT over 25 years ago, when IT departments were overwhelmingly male and the role of the women was more involved with administration of the rota, and maintenance of the coffee supplies than administration of the systems and maintenance of the equipment. I like to think that my success in the industry has been based on the recognition of my capability and skills, and not as a result of being a ‘female representative' to meet a required quota to show equality. Why should I need to have a positive spin put on my capability?
It is time to stop thinking about Men vs Women and consider who is the right person for the job, and take a view of true equality.
So how do we decide who is the right person for the job? Personality traits do matter – you need a detail person for the roles in Service Asset and Configuration Management, is this gender specific? Empathy and a broad spectrum approach to knowledge are required by Service Desk staff, is this gender specific? Should gender be a consideration?
I have no answers to the issue of fewer women than men in the IT arena. But it is true there are fewer women than men. A recent report – Arras People – The 2011 Project Management Benchmark Report (http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/project-and-programme-management-resources/the-project-management-benchmark-report-from-arras-people-2011/) has identified that women are often marginalised leading smaller, cheaper projects. The percentage of women project managers is under 30%.
The number of women in IT has increased in my career, the recognition of the ability of women to carry out any role in IT has improved. The question of whether or not women want to be in the IT industry has become less of an issue, as ‘everyone is in IT' these days! Its hard to avoid it. I meet CIOs who are women, I meet Senior IT managers who are women and I meet Service Desk analysts who are women.
The percentages of women in IT reached a peak in the late nineties, but are now decreasing. Research has yet to identify why this drop is happening, but there are many studies which look at the impact of IT education in schools. Is it still the perception that women will make themselves unavailable by having a family? Our governments are addressing the issues of parental leave, so that equality of child care is recognised as the responsibility of both men and women.
The question I want to ask is what impact does it have on our IT departments that there are fewer women than men? Does the old style combative approach to silos within IT, first line battling with second line, second line battling with third, and all brought together against the project teams, does this approach come from excessive testosterone? Would we be more inclusive with a higher level of oestrogen in our teams?
Its an interesting debate, and I find it impossible to tackle in an article. But I throw the question out to you all – no doubt a majority male readership – are our workplaces better or worse for the exclusion of women?
A final thought – that shakes me a little – a while ago the cry went out from the ITSM Portal publication for more women columnists – am I there as a result of positive discrimination after all?
First published ITSM Portal http://www.itsmportal.com/columns/women-and-it
Why do I not promote International Womens Day? Well, I like to think its because I am too busy being an ‘international woman' to remember that it is happening. This made me think about the role of women in IT Service Management, and IT generally.
I am not a great believer in positive discrimination for women in the workplace, which may come as surprise for those who know me. I have always believed that the workplace should be entirely based on the capability of the person to perform the task in hand, and positive discrimination doesn't always put the best person forward. My father (a retired Canon in the Church of England) was always strongly in favour of allowing women into the Ministry, but his problem was that the women who put themselves forward were not always the ‘right people' for the job. So his objection was not based on the gender bias, but on the individual – I follow my fathers thinking in this.
So International Womens Day leaves me with very mixed feelings. Yes, we should promote and be proud of the capability of women in the world – but there is considerably less fuss made of International Mens Day (19th November). Positive discrimination makes me uncomfortable. I started working in IT over 25 years ago, when IT departments were overwhelmingly male and the role of the women was more involved with administration of the rota, and maintenance of the coffee supplies than administration of the systems and maintenance of the equipment. I like to think that my success in the industry has been based on the recognition of my capability and skills, and not as a result of being a ‘female representative' to meet a required quota to show equality. Why should I need to have a positive spin put on my capability?
It is time to stop thinking about Men vs Women and consider who is the right person for the job, and take a view of true equality.
So how do we decide who is the right person for the job? Personality traits do matter – you need a detail person for the roles in Service Asset and Configuration Management, is this gender specific? Empathy and a broad spectrum approach to knowledge are required by Service Desk staff, is this gender specific? Should gender be a consideration?
I have no answers to the issue of fewer women than men in the IT arena. But it is true there are fewer women than men. A recent report – Arras People – The 2011 Project Management Benchmark Report (http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/project-and-programme-management-resources/the-project-management-benchmark-report-from-arras-people-2011/) has identified that women are often marginalised leading smaller, cheaper projects. The percentage of women project managers is under 30%.
The number of women in IT has increased in my career, the recognition of the ability of women to carry out any role in IT has improved. The question of whether or not women want to be in the IT industry has become less of an issue, as ‘everyone is in IT' these days! Its hard to avoid it. I meet CIOs who are women, I meet Senior IT managers who are women and I meet Service Desk analysts who are women.
The percentages of women in IT reached a peak in the late nineties, but are now decreasing. Research has yet to identify why this drop is happening, but there are many studies which look at the impact of IT education in schools. Is it still the perception that women will make themselves unavailable by having a family? Our governments are addressing the issues of parental leave, so that equality of child care is recognised as the responsibility of both men and women.
The question I want to ask is what impact does it have on our IT departments that there are fewer women than men? Does the old style combative approach to silos within IT, first line battling with second line, second line battling with third, and all brought together against the project teams, does this approach come from excessive testosterone? Would we be more inclusive with a higher level of oestrogen in our teams?
Its an interesting debate, and I find it impossible to tackle in an article. But I throw the question out to you all – no doubt a majority male readership – are our workplaces better or worse for the exclusion of women?
A final thought – that shakes me a little – a while ago the cry went out from the ITSM Portal publication for more women columnists – am I there as a result of positive discrimination after all?
First published ITSM Portal http://www.itsmportal.com/columns/women-and-it
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