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Tackling The Shortage Of Women In Tech Means Tackling The Shortage Of Girls In The Tech Classroom

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Apple CEO Tim Cook has warned that the shortage of women could hamper the future of tech – but tackling the shortage of women in tech means tackling the shortage of girls in the tech classroom.

In an interview with the BBC this week, Cook said there were “no good excuses” for the shortage of women in tech.

And the result of the lack of diversity is that technology will fail to live up to its potential.

“I think the essence of technology and its effect on humanity depends on women being at the table,” he said.

“Technology’s a great thing that will accomplish many things, but unless you have diverse views at the table that are working on it, you don’t wind up with great solutions.”

Around 35% of Apple’s
AAPL
 workforce are women, slightly higher than sector average, according to a recent Deloitte report, although the authors warned that issues such as workload and access to flexible work mean recent progress is in danger of stalling.

But while tech firms can make a difference both through their hiring practices and their approach to employee pay and conditions, they can also only work with what they have.

At some level, tackling the shortage of women in tech means tackling the shortage of girls in the tech classroom.

In the same interview, Cook called for all students to take a coding course in school, to give them a working knowledge of how to code and how apps are created.

England became the first country in the world to make it mandatory for all students to study coding up to the age of 16, but taking some of the optionality out has not led to the sort of progress in closing the gender gap that we might have expected .

While the number of students taking computer science courses has risen, the subject has the biggest gender gap in the curriculum, with girls making up just 15% of students taking computer science at A-level.

This disparity is not the result of a lack of ability or aptitude. Girls are slightly more likely to get a top grade, with 38.8% awarded a grade A or above, compared with 34.4% of boys.

But there is only so much schools can do on their own. If girls are not being put off computer science through a lack of opportunity or aptitude, then there must be other reasons.

And an obvious place to start is the paucity of female representation – particularly at the top levels – in the leading tech companies.

To some extent, it is a chicken and egg situation. More girls coming through to study computing to age 18 and beyond, means more chance that some of them will make it to senior levels in tech firms.

But without suitable role models, it is hardly surprising that many girls do not envisage a career in tech as a viable option, with just 27% saying they would consider a career in technology, compared with 61% of boys, and just 3% saying it would be their first choice, according to a recent PWC
PWC
 study.

The same survey found that girls were half as likely to have a career in tech suggested to them, 16% compared with 33% of boys, showing that it is not just the students’ attitudes that matter. More than three quarters of girls were unable to name a famous woman working in technology.

If – when – it comes, it may only take one or two women to rise to prominence to open the floodgates. And it may be that while the schools can provide the opportunities, it is up to tech companies to take the step that will unleash the potential, and help tech fulfill its promise.

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