With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend and the ongoing discussion about women and mothers in the workforce, we wanted to take a look at women and working moms in the IT industry. While women make up only 30% of the IT workforce, they are a growing market for a number of reasons:
1. Women love IT.
According to the Center for Work-Life Policy, 74% of women in IT jobs love their work. Jobs in IT allow exploration and creation and tend to promote continuous learning. They also recently topped the list of “Highest Paying Jobs for Women” by Forbes. Woman may not currently hold as many upper level management roles as men in the IT industry, but they are making an effort to close the gender gap.
2. Daughters Learn by Example.
Programs like NCWIT (National Center for Women and Information Technology) are encouraging and rewarding young women in high school who succeed in technology fields. They offer awards, scholarships and a community for young women who aspire to succeed in Information Technology. In fact, six Minnesota high school girls were named winners at the state level in April, with one of those winning at the national level. As the number of higher-level women in the IT field grows, many young women just starting to think about their career will look to these women as mentors for their own future success.
3. IT Jobs Tend to be Working-Mom Friendly.
Forbes recently rated jobs in Information Technology among the “Top 10 Happiest Jobs for Working Moms.” IT jobs can be flexible. It is often possible to work from home and set your own hours which is very beneficial for many working mothers, especially when both parents work full time. Beyond the flexibility, these jobs offer great benefits, big paychecks and feature a narrow gender wage gap.
There are many incredibly successful women in technology, and the number is growing. Since the beginning of 2013 46% of new tech positions have been filled by women. Women in IT are helping other women, for example, creating programming workshops that include childcare to allow more women to get the training they need.
It’s OK that your mom is probably not an IT Pro, we’re sure she’s pretty awesome too, so remember to give her a hug, one of these great gifts, or a phone call to say Happy Mother’s Day this Sunday. And from all of us at ESP, happy early Mother’s Day to all you Pro Moms (IT or otherwise) out there!
