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NZ makes significant inroads in improving gender balance - but not in ICT

NZ makes significant inroads in improving gender balance - but not in ICT

MYOB reports calls on New Zealand’s tech sector to do more to build a more inclusive industry.

Anna Christison, who recently finished an internship at Google in Sydney, speaks at the launch of the MYOB Women in Tech report.

Anna Christison, who recently finished an internship at Google in Sydney, speaks at the launch of the MYOB Women in Tech report.

To futureproof our sector, we need to seriously assess why so few women are working in ICT

MYOB calls on New Zealand’s tech sector to do more to build a more inclusive industry.

It warns the number of women working in the tech sector is likely to decline over the coming years unless significant, industry-wide action is taken to improve gender diversity.

In the MYOB Women in Tech report, the online accounting software provider outlines steps to improve gender diversity in the workplace.

MYOB general manager Carolyn Luey says the report shows just how far behind the tech sector is compared to the rest of the country.

“In recent years, New Zealand has made some significant strides in closing the gender gap – particularly in regard to health, education, the economy and politics,” says Luey.

“In fact, today there are 85 working women to every 100 working men, and almost half of all business leaders are female.”

However, Luey says the same cannot be says for the local tech sector – whose workforce is predominantly male.

“Just 23 per cent of the New Zealand workforce is female,” says Luey.

 “While we fare better than many other countries, we’re a long way away from complete gender parity," says Luey.

“If New Zealand is closing the gender gap, why has the tech sector been left behind? What makes ICT different to other industries and business communities? And what can we do to catch up?”

 “We need to ask the tough, but necessary questions about tech culture and women’s place in it,” says Luey.

 The MYOB Women in Tech report also shows that men are twice as likely to study ICT at a tertiary level, and almost five times more likely to study engineering and related technologies.

Recent data from the Ministry of Education covered in the report reveals a similar trend. In 2015, there were only 1,445 females studying ICT, compared to 3,160 males, and only 1,675 female engineering students compared to 7,580 male students.

If NZ is closing the gender gap, why has the tech sector been left behind? What makes ICT different to other industries and business communities?

Carolyn Luey, MYOB

Future focus

“This is a major problem for our tech sector – particularly while the country faces a major skills shortage,” warns Luey.

“To set ourselves up for the future, we need to ensure we have the people and the resources to build a progressive ICT sector that contributes to the wider New Zealand economy.”

The MYOB report interviews women leaders who are working to balance the gender scales in the tech sector.

Zoe Timbrell, founder and general manager of OMGTech!, says the gender imbalance is changing in NZ ICT- but only on the surface.

“If you look at the positions women hold in tech firms, you’ll find the majority are in marketing or HR,” says Timbrell.  OMGTech! works with a national network of volunteers to run  workshops, events and holiday programmes around STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

 “Women are still missing from the engineering and coding divisions- and that is a problem because these jobs can lead to exciting and rewarding careers, which often pay more too.”

Zoe Timbrell
Zoe Timbrell

Women are still missing from the engineering and coding divisions - and that is a problem because these jobs can lead to exciting and rewarding careers, which often pay more too.

Zoe Timbrell, OMGTech!

 Timbrell says shifting the entire industry is a massive task but  possible. “If we don’t focus on closing the gender gap soon we’re going to become truly divided, even more than we are now.

 Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh, AUT lecturer and founder of networking and events programme She Sharp, is one such women leading change but says New Zealand lacks female role-models in its tech sector.

 “You can’t be who you can’t see,” she says.

 “If you can’t see yourself in your role-model, you’re never going to try to be like them.”

 According to Mohaghegh, this is partly due to a perception issue – a deeply ingrained cultural view of what the industry is, who works for it and who should study to be a part of it.

“The fact that just 3 per cent of fifteen-year-old girls want to pursue a tech-related career in New Zealand shows us that we need to be targeting young females at an earlier age.

 “We have to be teaching computer science, engineering, problem-solving and computational thinking from primary school,” says Mohaghegh.

We have to be teaching computer science, engineering, problem-solving and computational thinking from primary school

Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh, AUT

Confronting a national problem 

The MYOB Women in Tech report reveals how New Zealanders can help to solve the industry-wide problem.

 Luey says to increase the number of women working in New Zealand’s tech sector and build a balanced industry, “We need to rethink how we educate our young people, expose more women to the industry early on, recognise and promote female leaders, and support the game-changers who are already enforcing positive change.”

Luey says MYOB is raising awareness of gender equality within its own organisation and its network of tech influencers by starting conversations, addressing unconscious bias, hosting events and building partnerships.

“Internally, we’ve accelerated the representation of women in junior and management roles – and today, more than 40 per cent of our entry-level engineering roles are held by women.

“If we balance the gender scales today, we can set the next generation of tech leaders – male and female – up for unprecedented success."

Mikayla Stokes, a year 13 high school student at Western Springs College,  speaks at the launch of the MYOB Women in Tech report. She loves building robots (not of the evil kind) and wants to study mechatronics engineering so she can keep making kick-ass robots (photo courtesy of MYOB)
Mikayla Stokes, a year 13 high school student at Western Springs College, speaks at the launch of the MYOB Women in Tech report. She loves building robots (not of the evil kind) and wants to study mechatronics engineering so she can keep making kick-ass robots (photo courtesy of MYOB)
Carolyn Luey at the Auckland launch of the MYOB Women in Tech report
Carolyn Luey at the Auckland launch of the MYOB Women in Tech report

Send news tips and comments to divina_paredes@idg.co.nz

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