IT industry needs a makeover to appeal to women as a career, says new Connect research

40% of male IT Directors believe that the image of the IT profession needs a makeover if it is to attract more women to the industry, according to new research published today by Connect Support Services.  However, female IT directors have a different perspective - for them, flexible working is the real issue.  More than half (57%) of the women surveyed want more freedom to set their own working hours.

The survey was conducted by an independent research company on behalf of Connect and consisted of in-depth interviews with IT Managers and Directors at 151 UK companies in a range of industries.  Only 10% of IT Directors and Managers working in SMEs were women.

Other significant results from the research include:
- A quarter (29%) of female IT workers surveyed believe that there is a bias against women working in IT;
- 34% of male IT directors surveyed think that nothing can be done to attract more women to the industry;
- 14% of women said that stress caused by an IT problem at work has caused them to neglect family and friends - compared to just 6% of men.
- 25% believe that only making changes at school and colleges would increase the numbers of women working in technology

Mark MacGregor, CEO of Connect, said: “It is clear that the IT industry is still something of a dinosaur when it comes to attracting women to choose technology as a career.  This needs to change if we’re truly going to attract the highest calibre of potential employees.

“Men think IT has an image problem – whereas the women think that the industry isn’t doing enough to provide flexible working opportunities.  Clearly, both of these issues need to be addressed if we’re to make real progress.  The recent publicity about Ada Lovelace – the first computer programmer – have highlighted the importance of creating more iconic industry role models to help attract the next generation of  younger women into IT.  The UK technology sector would be stronger if we could encourage more women to see their future in technology so that British businesses don’t miss out on the future Ada Lovelaces.”

The survey of 151 IT Directors was conducted by The Survey Shop in 2008/2009. Full details of the survey can be found at www.connect.co.uk