Graduate Careers

Information technology is one of Australia’s fastest-growing industry sectors. The ICT industry generated revenue of $84.3 billion in 2007. However the number of women working in the sector is in decline.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report Employment in Information and Communication Technology, of the over 300,000 ICT professionals working in Australia in 2005-06, less than 25% were women, a figure that was in decline. A similar proportion of female students can be found in IT courses at Australian tertiary institutions. In July 2008 the Federal Offi ce for Women made a submission to the Review of Australian Higher Education, which said that in 2006 men outnumbered women in IT courses by four to one. Between 2003 and 2006 the number of IT students had decreased, but female enrolments have fallen even faster (44%) than male enrolments (31%).

Why are women reluctant to enter the IT industry?

• The IT industry is viewed as a male-dominated domain or ‘boys club’ that can be intimidating to women.
• Women are put off by the ‘geek stereotype’ and tend to identify IT with the socially inept programmers that are so often depicted in popular culture.
• Females see IT jobs as lonely, boring, too technical and non-creative, with little opportunity for contact with other people.
• Many women view a career in IT as being incompatible with family life due to long working hours, overtime, and the fact that constant advances in IT technology mean it’s easy to be left behind after even a short absence from the workforce.

Many of these factors are actually misconceptions.

The reality is that IT is one of the most dynamic and fast-growing industries in Australia today. Current employment and future jobs growth across the industry is strong. And contrary to the stereotypical image of IT jobs offering little opportunity for social contact, a great many of the diverse range of IT roles today offer variety, job satisfaction, and require human interaction, skills in communication, teamwork, and creativity.

The way forward

The IT industry is widely recognised as being crucial for Australia’s economic growth. Considerable effort is being made to encourage women to enter the IT workforce.Some of the main government and industry initiatives include:

• Government investigations and reports on the issue — for example, the 2000 paper: Women in IT – what are the barriers?
• Government summits to address barriers to women entering IT, and to try to work on solutions — for example, the inaugural National ICT partICipaTion summit held in September 2005.
• The Australian Computer Society (ACS) created a women’s board in 2004.In 2005 the ACS developed its work life policy. This landmark policy for the IT sector addresses work-life issues for employers and employees in the IT industry.

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