In this short warm-up article, instead of focusing on long-standing traditional business sectors, we analyze the recently-developing information and communication technologies in general, and the computer programming and software industry more specifically.
Even though the data is still limited for a comprehensive comparison, we would like to highlight this branch of industry because the world is moving to a new phase with new advancements. Our aim is to support women, especially in fresh and nascent start-ups, to become more visible and active in the industry by using our capabilities and know-how. Moreover, we believe companies could be able to be a part of the transformation and catch the speed of this change only with inclusive policies and approach towards employing the skills of women. Paradoxically, while women such as Ada Lovelace were the pioneers of computer science, their recognition is not sufficient and unfortunately cannot compete with the gender roles and stereotype of “man occupation”.
According to the report of TalentGrid (2021), in Türkiye, only 1 in 10 programmers are female. In addition, The rate of women preferring to work in startups is less than men. In the report, it is also possible to find the stories and challenges that women in this field are facing. The situation is similar when we take a look at the EU-level data. Only around 17% of ICT specialists are women in Europe. So why is this the case? We can refer to numerous sexist comments and theories that try to explain gender inequality in employment; however, in reality, there are reasons that stem from the gender roles in which women are expected to be fit. Therefore, instead of focusing only on the surface, of the outcome, one must question the gender roles that consist the root cause of the problem of women being underrepresented and invisible compared to men, in certain business sectors.
International Chamber of Commerce (2017) states that “United Nations SDG 5 aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls and calls for enhanced use of enabling technology – ICTs in particular – to promote the empowerment of women”. One way of enabling women’s empowerment and gender equality is equality in the job market and encouraging the presence of women in those sectors. At this point, as political scientists, this is the right time to refer to the policymakers and advocate for women’s empowerment in the ICT sector with capacity building and policy diffusion. For this goal, I would like to point to the call for implementing the commitment of the “Women in Digital” Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 of the European Commission which includes actions to increase the participation and visibility of women in ICT and digital sectors. The strategy has different initiatives including advocating for more women entrepreneurs, challenging digital gender stereotypes, and promoting skills and education. These initiatives are great examples of touching on the root cause of the problem to empower women by sharing good practices among Europe with member states, companies, and organizations.
In Türkiye, there are gender-aware companies, and platforms, for instance, Istanbul Blockchain Women, and projects (Haydi Kizlar Kodlamaya, Genc Kizlar Kod Yaziyor, More Coding More Girls) carried out to enhance women’s presence in the ICT business branch. However, there is certainly a need for a strong commitment and incentive from the policymakers and private sector in Türkiye to develop strategies especially in challenging digital gender stereotypes that enable equal participation of women in the digital and ICT sector as professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders to reach more sustainable and equal economic prosperity.
On the reference links, you can find the websites of some of the organizations and platforms active in Türkiye and the EU aiming to bring women in tech together. We conduct research to raise gender awareness in business by knowledge sharing between the EU and Türkiye and connecting the women from different branches of business. We invite you to visit those platforms to find a network of women in Türkiye and Europe that can inspire you or have similar stories and challenges as you do.