Hired and Women Who Code Team Up to Fight the Gender Gap in Tech
Written by Janet Ikpa
Women make up 25% of the STEM workforce in the US. The numbers in computer science and engineering are even lower. At Hired, our unique data provides additional insight into factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women in the technology industry. For example for 53% of technical positions, companies interviewed only male candidates for a given role, whereas the reverse was true just 6% of the time.
The gender gap begins before hiring, though. Girls as young as 6 years old have reported less interest and confidence in technology compared to boys in elementary school, mirroring cultural messages around who excels at computer science and engineering. But there’s hope: providing girls with positive STEM experiences has been shown to close the gap between boys and girls’ technical interest and self-esteem.
These factors create a challenging environment where progress will be difficult. However, we’re inspired by the many organizations and initiatives to empower girls and women through increased access to the training, skills, and mentorship necessary for professional advancement. As a company that has unprecedented visibility into trends across a variety of positions and companies in tech, we want to proactively partner with organizations who are leading the way for women in STEM. And today we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Women Who Code.
WWCode is an international non-profit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. The organization is the largest and most active community for technical women in the world and it has executed more than 5,000 events around the globe, garnered a membership exceeding 100,000, and has offered $1.6M in scholarships and conference awards.
WWCode has educated companies to better promote, retain and hire talented women. The organization has built a global community where networking and mentorship is valued and developed role models for an entire generation of female engineers. Our collaboration will strengthen the pipeline of top female tech talent in the industry and help to close the gender gap in tech.