That was the main concept of an article I read from Gartner (2020) today, and I found it quite shocking to be honest that such a ‘recognised institute’ would write this. It’s isn’t phrased that way, but reading the article ‘What Makes Woman in Technology Great CIOs’ felt more like reading the first questionable ‘how-to’ guide you find when googling a question. It is written between the lines, for example the first question stated in this article is: “How can more female leaders rise to the top?”.
The article suggests that becoming a CIO nowadays requires more ‘feminine-perceived’ traits than before and that therefore females should be at advantage. I am not implying that they say that woman can’t do ‘masculine’ tasks well (or the other way around), but I personally don’t think determining a skill as masculine or feminine is useful or necessary. Gartner questions why only 11% of CIOs are woman, when the ‘feminine’ traits are much needed in this position.
Own experience
As a woman in IT myself, this number doesn’t shock me. I know that in regards to this subject, I am part of a minority. In my previous study, internships and my side jobs in IT, I found out that you have to take your place as a woman in IT. I was one of the five woman studying Business IT and management in my graduation year (+200 students) and I am often the only woman in my team doing an ‘IT job’. To be honest, I don’t care about that. I just want to work with passionate IT-ers who value my work. I am fortunate enough that I never experienced my direct colleagues or professors questioning my skills because of my gender. However, I did notice that I sometimes had to prove myself first, and realised that in some companies the ‘higher ups’ did question my technical skills. I also always have to be included in team-pictures so that the company can show off their diversity and don’t follow ‘the stereotype of IT-ers’ (which I don’t agree with by the way, but that is another subject).
How to be a woman at the IT-top
So far, this hasn’t really been a problem since I am still in college and not actively trying to build a career with a higher position. However, according to this article, if I want to climb up the ladder I would have to do the following things to succeed:
- Resist the tendency to prove your technical skills, since as a manager you should be more a business visionary and a role model.
- Build trust by being tough but still empathic.
- Gain support from a male colleague, so they wont question your judgement when hiring a someone from a minority.
- Guide behavioural change at the top and remind them of what your job is and why you’re ‘questioning’ the current day-to-day activities.
- Pick your battles: “Support and encourage male C-suite peers to build on the first step they’ve taken by hiring you”.
This list set me thinking. So why do woman have to do these things to be taken seriously? Why isn’t this a list for managers in general? And why would I need male colleagues as a support base? Didn’t we learn in class that diversity enables critical thinking and more diverse idea generation? I do think Gartner wrote this article with the right intentions and didn’t anticipate on triggering these questions of readers. But I find this remarkable statements, that just ‘accept’ that IT-woman aren’t taken seriously when being themselves, instead of providing suggestions how to find a workplace that does value you and your skills.
I definitely don’t want to be hired because I am a woman in IT. I want to be hired because I am good at what I do. And I want to be taken seriously for it, without having to look for male peers to back me up. I know that in certain jobs (for example kindergarten teachers), this is the other way around, which is just as unethical. Please let me know what your experiences are (male or female, other majorities or minorities and everything in between). I’d like to hear what you think in the comment section.
References
Gartner. (2020, October 5). What Makes Woman in Technology Great CIOs. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/what-makes-women-in-technology-great-cios
Hawlina, H., Gillespie, A., & Zittoun, T. (2017). Difficult differences: a socio-cultural analysis of how diversity can enable and inhibit creativity. Journal of Creative Behaviour. doi:10.1002/jocb.182
Thank you for this blog and for bringing up this subject, Desiree!
I actually find it so sad that we still have to have this conversation in 2021. Just the other day, I was reading a research paper where women were placed in a group with people who would probably have trouble with technology. Not some women, or women in certain areas – no, all women. I was so confused as I read the piece that all other information started to look less trustworthy! If it’s still an assumption in 2021 that women and technology don’t go together at all, it’s not exactly a surprise that women working in IT is also still a subject companies like Gartner write about!
I do have a feeling that ‘women not belonging in IT’ – or at least them having more trouble – is almost the same stereotype as ‘women can’t drive’. The craziest thing is that people seem to use this stereotype even when women are around. In my own experience, these comments were never directed towards me but more in a general sense. Almost like people don’t understand that it’s not just ‘Women in IT’, it’s actual people who have worked and studied just as hard as them to get where they are.
Like you, I luckily don’t have much experience with the negative comments or actions surrounding being a woman in IT. Or maybe I do, because getting internships has never been that hard but it does look good for a company to have a female IT intern…. I do choose to believe it is because of my dedication and skills, but it does make me wonder. All in all, I do think this is a subject a lot of companies, educational courses and individual people can still better themselves. Thanks again for this blog, it was interesting to think about!
Hi Lindsay,
Thank you for your comment, I like hearing about other peoples experiences. I agree with you that this shouldn’t be happening anymore in 2021 (or 2020, since the article is from last year). I like your comparison with the ‘woman can’t drive statement’. Overgeneralization is a huge problem that society is facing. This is not only regarding woman, but regarding a lot of stereotypes. Hence why I stated that I don’t agree with the ‘IT-er stereotype’ in general. I hope progress will continue and companies will see that every person is unique and not the way they think they are.