Endemic workforce discrimination means women need a hand

Twenty years ago a male colleague and assigned mentor to new technology graduates told me “girls can’t code”.

Twenty years ago a male colleague and assigned mentor to new technology graduates told me “girls can’t code”.

I still feel ashamed when remembering it. Years later I heard the same man tell another budding female developer the same thing, and worse yet, I did nothing.

Fast forward 17 years, and I witnessed another unconscious form of discrimination. As a manager of another company I observed that over nine months we hired a team of almost identical managers.

Although they were highly skilled, every single one was male, nine out of 10 were white, all were in the 35 to 40-year-old age bracket, and all but two had the same spiked hairdo. We could not even achieve diversity in hairstyles.

I was overruled for intending to hire a capable female into this role who interviewed well. She “didn’t seem to fit in with the others”, so did not pass their culture-fit test. Despite my determination to right the wrongs of gender discrimination, I was sucked into the unconscious bias vortex.

While such blatant and shortsighted views of females in technology are becoming a thing of the past, the number of females in technology is significantly behind where we need it to be.

A recent DiversIT report by recruiter Davidson Technology found that of the 435,000 people working in IT in Australia, only 31 per cent are female.

The report, which studied LinkedIn IT worker profiles, showed female representation in roles across Australia and highlighted the representation of females in executive roles is less than 14 per cent. The solution to fix this is threefold.

Firstly, we cannot afford to let bias thwart the recruitment of capable women in IT. This problem needs to be addressed by everyone, not just those at the coalface.

Secondly, we need to break down defined stereotypes of technology workers and develop mentoring opportunities. All women in technology need to step up and take every opportunity to attract and encourage their peers.

Thirdly, we need to ensure the environment we are recruiting women into is welcoming. I now have eight females in my team, including four developers. I have males in my team supportive of females in technology.

But despite all efforts to attract and support women in technology, more still needs to be done.

When chatting with team members over lunch, one female developer tried to spark up a conversation. She was cut off by the more confident male colleague monopolising the conversation.

My early progress depended on experienced technologists giving me their time, but I often found myself waiting for the attention of older males. My male peers, who were generally more confident, received more attention from the senior staff.

I make no apology for pushing a more-females-in-technology agenda. Without female support, how can we achieve equality?

At REA Group we have a mentoring program for all of our women in technology. We pair them with a senior mentor interested in supporting their careers.

Through mentoring programs and networking opportunities, people can stretch themselves and leave behind that young woman scared to ask for help to progress her career.

Look around and notice the subtle and unintentional forms of workplace discrimination. It is the least we can do for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce, which includes our daughters.

Alexandra Stokes is engineering manager for the REA Group.