Academia-friendly title: Geographical anomalies and attributed motivators for the achievement of parity in gender diversity within IT
At the current rate of change we remain almost 133 years away from closing the economic gender gap[1]. Some years back I prepared a Board presentation on diversity in IT which showed that the international department I ran had good diversity in terms of racial/nationality composition, but fell a long way short of parity in term of the gender split. Having spent years interviewing technologists, and being baffled by the lack of gender diversity in the applicants we were seeing, I traced this back to a lack of female STEM graduates. Gender diversity in the graduate intake was no better than that of the senior professional cohort. The majority of engineers in financial services have a degree and usually with an undergraduate STEM background unless they have done an MSc or similar conversion course. At that time the gender split of my department broadly matched the graduate gender split of our primary UK feeder universities. It was more or less 10% female with a heavy focus on Computer Science[2]. If half of the population are avoiding an in-demand and well-paid career then it is worth investigation since we as profit-seeking organisations are missing out on half the available skilled graduates entering the market. Furthermore, if women are being turned off Computer Science before university we have little hope of moving towards parity and closing the economic gap. Given that my Board presentation was now very out of date I thought it appropriate to review the situation.
Firstly, I took a look to find out the current gender split in the Computer Science student body and if there were any global geographical anomalies. Secondly I looked to see what has been discovered as reasoning for the situation, and finally what has been tried to address an issues identified.
The geographical disparity of gender diversity
Data is available from a number of sources but the most complete global picture was published in 2021 by UNESCO. While this has a number of glaring omissions, such as China[3] for example, and the bulk of the data is from 2018, it does seem likely that UNESCO have applied globally consistent parameters to derive the results. Thus it should enable us to derive a global comparative benchmarking.
There is variation between sources as the table below shows but the consensus across most sources with respect to Europe, as stated in a Microsoft “Why girls aren’t studying STEM” report from 2017[4], gives the average for the region as only 1 in 5 European Computer Science students being female, ie 20%. The following table contains data sourced from reports issued by or generated using data from Eurostat[5], UNESCO[6], Stemwomen[7] and HESA[8].
| Source: | Eurostat | UNESCO | Stemwomen | HESA |
| Sample date: | 2020 | 2018 | 2018 | 2021 |
| Country - | ||||
| UK | 17.7 | 19.4 | 13 | 22.7 |
| France | 17.3 | 17.3 | ||
| Germany | 20.8 | 19.4 | ||
| Netherlands | 12.1 | 14.5 | ||
| Switzerland | 10.6 | 9.9 | ||
| Spain | 13 |
Table 1: Percentage of Computer Science undergraduates that are female by country
So interpreting this table, for example, UNESCO notes that in 2018 19.4% of the UK's Computer Science student cohort were female. The data suggests that the UK shows some variation, but it is safe to assume we remain some considerable way short of parity, and most European countries have a similar showing. In fact across Europe only Sweden (30.2%) and Greece (35.7%) manage to break through the 30% female representation level.
Taking a global perspective we see a somewhat different view. I have geographically categorised the 110 countries for which data was available into 9 regions. Note that there is nothing official or UN-approved about this categorisation, it is heuristic, but based on geographical observation. Another important concern is that the total number of ICT graduates from each country is not given in the UNESCO report, merely the percentage of the graduate population that are female. Nonetheless there are some interesting points to investigate.
| Region | No. of countries | Percent with >20% female | Percent with >30% female | Percent with >40% female |
| Africa | 22 | 95.5% | 77.3% | 31.8% |
| Asia | 20 | 90.0% | 75.0% | 40.0% |
| Australasia | 2 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Central America | 10 | 90.0% | 30.0% | 10.0% |
| East Europe | 23 | 73.9% | 30.4% | 8.7% |
| Middle East | 7 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| North America | 2 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| South America | 6 | 50.0% | 33.3% | 16.7% |
| West Europe | 18 | 27.8% | 11.1% | 0.0% |
Table 2. Percentages of countries with >20%, >30% and >40% female ICT graduates, by region
As an example, in interpreting this table we observe that of the 22 countries in Africa for which the UNESCO document had data, 21 of them (~95.5%) had a student Computer Science cohort that was at least 20% female, whereas 7 countries (31.8%) had an ICT student population greater than 40% female.
There are at least three striking takeaways from this data.
- In last position: The West
From a socio-economic and (arguably) cultural perspective West Europe, Australasia and the USA are similar. They are also highly correlated in that they score similarly poorly on gender diversity in ICT graduates. There has been a view that “tech is for boys” because boys are drawn to computers at an early age via gaming. However there is evidence in the UK[9] that female gamers now make up 50% of the cohort against a global figure of 48%, a number that has been steady since 2012, so that is now an outdated argument.
A recent study[10] focussing on the USA makes a number of observations. It points out that according to the American Association of University Women[11], Computer Science graduates have the smallest gender pay gap of any subject. Yet there has been a significant decline in the number of US women studying ICT from 37% in 1984 to 18%-20%[12] today, even though women earn 57% of all US degrees. Interestingly the research links this to the introduction of the personal computer which it observes was primarily marketed at men.
A UCLA article[13] in 2017 confirmed our empirical observation that “While women have made significant gains in many fields, including medicine, business and law, the percentage of women who receive CS degrees is the smallest across all STEM fields, according to the U.S. Department of Education.” It is Computer Science rather than STEM subjects as a whole that is the outlier. The study also observes that women are less likely to have studied Computing at school than men and that the Intro to Computer Science courses lean towards students that have at least some experience of programming. So the issue arises before university. A Microsoft report[14] notes that in the US by Middle School “31 percent of girls believe that jobs requiring coding and programming are ‘not for them.’ In high school, that percentage jumps up to 40. By the time they’re in college, 58 percent of girls count themselves out of these jobs.” The study identifies a number of criteria to address. “Girls who know a woman in a STEM profession are substantially more likely to feel empowered when they engage in STEM activities (61 percent) than those who don’t know a woman in a STEM profession (44 percent).” So role models play an important part in directing children’s career interests. That’s no surprise but worth reiterating. The problem is compounded if there is a deficit in the senior IT ranks within organisations because role models are scarce. That is going to take time to rectify even if we see a substantial increase in the number of women coming in at the base. Mentoring future female leaders could have a part to play here, along with having supportive industry networks to lean on. The same report notes that girls don’t identify with STEM subjects in general since STEM “doesn’t align with their desire to be creative and make an impact in the world” and that a “overwhelming majorities of girls (91 percent) and young women (80 percent) describe themselves as creative.” It is hard for someone from a Computer Science background to accept that the discipline is not a creative one. However, there are some people out there who cannot see beauty in a well-crafted theorem proof[15] so we must accept that creativity is in the eye of the beholder. Empirical evidence suggests that UI/UX professionals have an above average female representation so there are outlets for creativity of the more accepted form under the umbrella of ICT. In terms of being able to “impact the world” it is difficult to think of many industries that have had a greater impact on the world over the past half century than IT so that statement seems a little at odds with reality. Indeed a little education goes a long way as the study subsequently observed “after being presented with just a brief description of the real-world accomplishments of engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists, girls’ perceptions of those career characteristics changed dramatically. In some cases, the perception of the creativity and positive impact of STEM careers more than doubled”.
Another study[16], this time at MIT, found that gender inequality begins before enrolment onto a university course. Digging deeper I found that in 2022 only 22% of UK GCSE Computing students were female[17]. Focussing on university admissions isn’t sufficient, we need to look earlier.
- Parity in Asia
Women in Asia are drawn to Computer Science in similar numbers to their male counterparts. There were 1,081,000 students enrolled to study Computer Science in India in 2021[18]. Considering the huge volume of graduates coming through Indian universities the 46.3% of women graduating there in 2018 constitutes a significant community. Recent figures put the male/female split at almost 50/50 in India.
In India the study of Computer Science does not seem to have seen any notable gender disparity over time and is considered an engineering discipline. There seem to be two pre-eminent career paths for Indian girls to choose as discussed in a CACM article from 2015[19] which notes that “as bright students, they were expected to choose between engineering and medical tracks after high school” with the study of Computer Science being a strong constituent of the former. The article notes that significantly family motivation pushed girls towards choosing to study Computer Science, especially male family members, citing fathers, brothers, cousins and uncles who “valued education immensely and saw CS as a proper field of study for women”.
- Beyond parity in the Middle East
The Middle East countries sampled are Bahrain, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA), Syria and United Arab Emirates. The ratios for these countries range from 46% female in Saudi Arabia through to 75.6% female in Oman. One report[20] states that Oman and Malaysia have the world’s highest proportion of female engineers at 53% and 50% of their respective workforces and that “Oman’s government has made comprehensive efforts to allow Omani girls to study at the world’s most prestigious universities”. A 2021 paper in the Journal of International Business and Entrepreneurship Development[21] on the role of gender and entrepreneurial attitudes noted that “female Omani students had similar entrepreneurial attitudes to their male counterparts” and that “Female entrepreneurs are considered as an important untapped resource within the business sector and a basis of socio-economic development to be assisted and supported by the government policies”. The implication being that Omani women are positively encouraged to study Computer Science as part of a concerted, government-backed policy.
With regard to Saudi Arabia’s rating of 46%, references to female numbers in ICT are limited, but a 2017 paper titled “Why do female students choose to study CS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?”[22] suggests that ICT is widely taught at KSA universities enabling Saudi females to study close to home, and that 44% of KSA faculty members are female. Additionally the paper notes that survey respondents cited their family as motivators to study Computer Science, that “the CS workplace gives female students the option of working with or without men” and that “53% of the women in KSA prefer to work without men in the workplace, and 55% of the guardians”. It is worth noting that the paper concedes that its sample size is small so potentially subject to bias. Additionally I could find no evidence of peer review.
The availability of Computer Science as a subject in Saudi Arabia has grown considerably from 7 colleges in 2005 to 42 offering the subject at the time of writing. This late development might mean that entrenched processes and mindsets were not set in place in teaching, but that is conjecture and would require further research.
The UNESCO report showed that in the UAE 55.4% of the ICT graduates were female. A different report[23] from 2018 that found that 77% of UAE students taking Computer Science classes were female and 93% in Oman puts it down to symbiosis because “women in STEM fields are acting as mentors for each other”.
What can be done to address the anomaly in the West?
It is not fair to suggest that nothing has been done to address gender disparity in IT. The BRAID initiative[24] was started in 2014 to draw US women to IT. However back in the early 1990’s when I was studying for a PhD my UK university department (Queen Mary College, London) held “Women in Computing” days where girls from local schools would come into the college for a Computer Science sampler. No doubt other colleges tried something similar yet little has changed in the intervening years in terms of a diversity impact.
Somewhere that has observed a measurable change is MIT where they are closing in on gender parity. A report[25] refers to the efforts in MIT to bring young women into lectures in an initiative run by the Mechanical Engineering department and Institute of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. It observed that women were already disinclined to study ICT long before they enrolled on a university course. This led to the departments setting up a programme to target girls in school through blogging, to spotlight women in the subject. They also invited students from 11th grade onwards to live on campus for a month’s teaching. The result was a significant increase in female student numbers to 41.4% for their Computer Science and Engineering course[26]. This critical mass is seemingly self-perpetuating since the gender balance became an effective recruitment tool to encourage women to attend MIT. There is a catch however. The programme has been running for 20 years, so concerted, long-term effort is necessary to reap tangible rewards.
STEM clubs are held up by the Microsoft report discussed earlier as an empowering agent in changing girls’ perception and growing their interest in the subject area. Interestingly the researchers found that there was a correlation between proximity to a city and interest in STEM clubs. It is however possible that there may be an associated correlation with the numbers of parents and other role models that work in IT in cities. Also 35% of high school girls that attended STEM classes did not feel supported by their teachers and classmates. So it’s not sufficient to hold a STEM club or class, it also has to be inclusive and supportive, showing girls the range of opportunities open to ICT graduates, but also ensuring that they understand that there is no gender barrier to entry.
The report concludes with a number of recommendations that can be broadly conflated to:
- Provide exposure to role models with encouragement from family and teachers
- Show what ICT study can lead to and how it is creative and impactful
- Introduce hands-on, real-world, inclusive extra-curricular IT activities
- Listen to girls when they describe their challenges and what they want to do
In line with the MIT findings, these recommendations must be introduced and sustained long-term until parity is achieved rather than considered to be a one-off fix.
The study that reported only 22% of UK Computing students in 2022 were female draws similar conclusions including:
- Making the learning relevant (not abstract), so real-world examples aligned with student interests
- Create a sense of belonging – introduce female role models
- Introduce clubs and activities
- Push parental engagement to support Computer Science as a credible option for girls to study
- Tie the learning of Computer Science to real-world careers
- Identify cross-curricular links such as Sam Aaron’s Sonic Pi project[27] for example
- Consider the gender stereotyping of the classroom environment (lose the SciFi posters!)
A Computer Weekly article[28] from 2022 points out that although far fewer girls study computing at GCSE level they consistently outperform the boys with 40.6% of girls achieving a 7/A grade versus 32.3% of boys. So if they can be persuaded to study computing girls seem to excel in the subject.
Finally, one damning finding of the Microsoft research was that “More than half of middle school and high school girls say they’re often encouraged by their moms and teachers. Less than half, however, say their fathers offer encouragement”. Most pertinently this is entirely at odds with the experience of Indian girls who are positively encouraged to study ICT by the males in their family. So to all my fellow males in IT leadership roles, if you want to improve the gender balance in the IT team within your organisation you have two choices: Either take it personally and show your daughters how interesting Computer Science can be, or outsource the function to India where they appear to have already nailed it. For the sake of your national economy let’s give option #1 a try first?
[1] Women in Technology Statistics: Where are We? | Women in Tech Network (womentech.net)
[2] I will use the common acronym “ICT” (Information and Communication Technology) interchangeably with “Computer Science” and “CS” where it is quoted.
[3] An independent source here: https://www.statista.com/statistics/765482/india-number-of-students-enrolled-in-engineering-stream-by-discipline/#:~:text=Number%20of%20undergraduate%20engineering%20students%20in%20India%202021%2C%20by%20discipline&text=As%20per%20the%20results%20of,discipline%20in%20academic%20year%202021 puts the percentage of female Chinese Computer Science graduates at 28% in 2021.
[4] Microsoft_girls_in_STEM_final-Whitepaper.pdf
[5] Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (Quick Take) | Catalyst
[6] Gender chapter 3_EN_UNESCO Science Report 2021.pdf
[7] Solving the Gender Gap in Computer Science and Gaming - Stem Women
[8] What do HE students study? | HESA
[9] https://ukiepedia.ukie.org.uk/index.php/Player_Diversity_%26_Demographics#:~:text=48%25%20of%20those%20who%20play,group%20now%20play%20video%20games.
[10] https://www.computerscience.org/resources/women-in-computer-science/#:~:text=Reasons%20for%20the%20Decline%20of%20Girls%20Studying%20Computer%20Science&text=As%20a%20result%2C%20women%20who,fields%20have%20catered%20to%20men.
[11] https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/simple-truth/
[12] Depending on which study you read.
[13] https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/cracking-the-code:-why-aren-t-more-women-majoring-in-computer-science
[16] Referred to here: How Do We Get More Women Into the German Engineering Profession? | Allex Blog
[17] https://hwrkmagazine.co.uk/girls-gcse-computing/#:~:text=This%20year%20fewer%20girls%20took,32.2%20percent%20of%20male%20entrants.
[18] https://www.statista.com/statistics/765482/india-number-of-students-enrolled-in-engineering-stream-by-discipline/#:~:text=Number%20of%20undergraduate%20engineering%20students%20in%20India%202021%2C%20by%20discipline&text=As%20per%20the%20results%20of,discipline%20in%20academic%20year%202021.
[19] Communications of the ACM - May 2015 - Page 56-57
[20] https://www.gccbusinessnews.com/omans-women-create-history-make-more-than-50-of-the-engineering-segment/
[21] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348314460_Role_of_gender_and_exposure_on_entrepreneurial_attitudes_of_Omani_university_students
[22] https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1096954/FULLTEXT01.pdf
[23] UAE bucks global trend as women lead the way in science studies (thenationalnews.com)
[24] https://momentum.gseis.ucla.edu/research/braid/
[25] Referred to in: How Do We Get More Women Into the German Engineering Profession? | Allex Blog
[26] See Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar and Women's enrollment 2022-2023 | MIT Registrar for figures. I chose “Computer Science and Engineering” since if any course is going to provide some of the world’s pre-eminent software developers it’s that one.
[28] https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252524208/Increase-in-number-of-girls-taking-GCSE-computing-exams-in-2022#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20female%20candidates,sat%20exams%20in%20the%20subject.
Picture credit to Arpad Czapp on Unsplash.com