How to Tackle Challenges Specific to Women Climbing the Tech Corporate Ladder?

A career in technology is synonymous with masculinity and it is seldom a secret that women in this sector are faced with countless hurdles as they strive to settle in their tech jobs.

Living in a biased world, the tech industry is perceived to be men’s trajectory and this societal norm places a huge burden on women and young girls who aspire to pursue a career in the tech industry.

While technology continues to be a formidable force of simplifying the lives of humanity in contemporary society, many talented females have been closed out of this world with only a few making their way to the top as compared to their male counterparts.

Women are usually forced to endure a journey often characterised by countless stumbling blocks. There is a need in the tech industry to address these challenges faced by women, ranging from the notoriously gender inequality, absence of role models and limited opportunities for career advancement.

Many women are therefore left out and forced to figure on their own if the next step taken will sustain their career and help them climb the corporate ladder.

Even though there may surely be positive stories, they do not surpass the negativity that women experience as they progress in the tech sector.

How do women climb the corporate ladder, face, and tackle the countless challenges as they endure the journey in the industry and eventually make it to the top? This article seeks to explore countless challenges that women face as they endeavour to triumph and hopefully make it to the leadership level in the sector.

While few travelled the lonely road, the fact that a handful of women in the tech industry endured their path until they reached the top attests that regardless of stumbling blocks, it is possible to climb the career ladder.

As in any other corporate sector, climbing a ladder requires not only an effort but a passion as well as dedication. Not only an attitude towards what you do builds you but humility and an ability to learn swiftly help you to sustain your relevance on your long-term career.

The nature of the industry itself does not present more opportunities for women compared to men.

An American worldwide employment website, Indeed, conducted a survey back in 2018 and the results showed a significant lack of career as one main factor which drove women out of the tech workforce.

With 1000 surveyed women, 28% of them indicated that lack of career growth was their main reason for leaving the tech industry.

While climbing the ladder is not a race but rather a long-term journey, women and young girls in the sector should be more flexible in their roles while enduring their career path.

This includes planning your future trajectory and figuring out where you want to end up and how to get there. Multiple studies suggest that diversity in tech companies has a significant role and improves innovation. The State of Women in Tech 2020 report divulged that only 26% of computing jobs are held by women.

Lack of role models

Lack of role models has influenced more women to think twice when considering venturing into the sector and also leave those in the industry with limited options as they seek more opportunities to grow.

Role models allow young people to look up in the future.

It goes without any denial that the more we identify these role models, it becomes easier to imagine ourselves in their positions.

Globally, huge tech companies such as Amazon, Google or Facebook are led by men and this leaves a tiny space for women to admire them.

In 2016, a US research conducted by McKinsey surveyed 132 companies which collectively employ more than 4.6 million people. At the time the research revealed that only 36% of female are entering the tech industry.

While this has been a little over five years, the improvements, however, continue to move in a snail pace and are often discouraging for young girls to pursue careers in tech.

With tech industry lagging in gender representatives, it goes without saying that there are women in the world who climbed this ladder regardless of these challenges.

Confidence and self-belief

With an astounding number of only 5% of women leading the tech industry, certainly lack of confidence and self-belief play a critical role in developing your career in the tech sector. There is a need for young girls to be equipped with the necessary skills to believe in themselves and nurture their confidence. These skills will allow women to believe in themselves and eventually nurture the confidence required to tackle obstacles aligned with the profession. With few women in the leadership role, this may prompt you to settle in your position and develop a fear to climb the ladder. However continuously learning, pushing yourself to the edge and embracing change indeed helps boost confidence. In a contemporary workplace, especially in tech, it is easier for skills to become obsolete as the new developments increase on rapidly high pace.

Then learning is of greater importance in the industry. Women who do not feel guilty about their choices often excel in a tech career. They usually understand that developing a career isn’t only about themselves but about the industry itself. Focusing on personal development only could lead you to a one-sided career thinking instead of building a career that is of lasting value.

Feeling insecure

Many obstacles in the tech field may drive women and young girls to feel more insecure when venturing in their career and endeavour to climb the corporate ladder. Published in August 2020, a report by Insights finds that about 60% of women working in the tech industry report offensive behaviour with more than 33% of the female professionals feeling unsafe at work. This often hampers their charisma as tech professionals. A need to feel more secure and ready to tackle any challenge at work and grow professionally can only be influenced by traits such as self-assurance and acknowledgement, amongst others. Most companies in the sector hire almost 30% of women in the entry-level but the number dwindles to 10% at the managerial positions and ends up only in 1% at the leadership levels. This highlights a need for companies in the tech sector to acknowledge and embrace the roles of women.

Research conducted by Women Who Code found out that women in tech careers would benefit from more female role models and are facing numerous hurdles in climbing the corporate ladder. This includes leaving an impact on their salary and long-term trajectory. Women often experience a pervasive lack of confidence in navigating a male-dominated workplace and face difficulty balancing work and personal life.

With more than 1500 women polled in technology fields, 35% didn’t know what was holding them back from progressing in their career while 64% reflected a pervasive lack of confidence and concern over navigating workplaces dominated by men.

Fiona Hobbes is one of many women whose career spans over 15 years in the tech industry.

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Opencast Software — an independent enterprise technology consultancy, she recently chronicled her career journey and reckons that immense success in the tech field stems from her passion.

Hobbes reckons that most technical roles do not necessarily require you to have a degree. Despite the challenges you may encounter in your career journey, your acquired skills and your passion will be your backbone in a long term, and it helps sustain a career in a male-dominated industry.