Fewer Female Techs -- Again
Women in U.S. IT jobs decreased each of the last three years.
The number of women in IT jobs in the U.S. has decreased each year for the past three years, and many CIOs report that they have no women in management within their IT organizations, according to a new report.
The survey by Robert Nash USA of 450 U.S. IT leaders, six of whom were federal IT executives, found that only nine percent of U.S. CIO respondents were female, marking a decline three years running from 12 percent in 2010 and 11 percent in 2011.
In addition, nearly one-third of CIOs reported that they have no women in management within their IT organizations. Only 52 percent believe women are under-represented in their IT department.
CIOs also said the most important value women add to the IT mission is their ability to form good relationships with the business, and nearly half of those surveyed said that women bring innovation and creativity to technology.
Meanwhile, a recent survey by InformationWeek revealed a gender gap in federal IT employment specifically, with women representing just 16 percent of federal IT staff and just 11 percent of IT management.
InformationWeek’s survey also found a gender gap in federal IT salaries. Male federal IT staff, for example, earned an average of $98,000 in total compensation per year, compared to $92,000 for comparable female IT staff. Total compensation for male IT managers was $117,000, compared to $106,000 for comparable female IT managers in the federal government, the survey found.