More women are in education than ever before, but the numbers pursuing STEM subjects are actually falling. Why is this happening?
Worse still, if less women enter this sector it becomes even harder to seek an equal, diverse workforce throughout science, computing and tech companies.
You would be hard pressed to find a major tech company around the world with less than 60pc male workers and, when it comes to leadership, women fill well under 20pc of all roles.
With more women leaving the industry prematurely, it makes having role models at the top increasingly difficult. This further adds to the image of a male-dominated tech world, and adds to the cycle of female discouragement.
But there are some strong initiatives — both globally as well as in Ireland — looking to change that.
CoderDojo, for example, is a fine computer programming project encouraging all kids to get into the field from a very young age.
Girls Who Code is an equivalent in the US, with the likes of I Wish (Ireland), Wise (UK) and Girls in Tech (world) also seeking to drive more diversity into a sector struggling to keep up with the demand for staff.
This infographic – which you can click to view in a larger format – from Next Generation portrays the issue, and possible options, succinctly.
Women Invent is Silicon Republic’s campaign to champion the role of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. It has been running since March 2013, and is kindly supported by Accenture Ireland, Intel, the Irish Research Council, ESB, Twitter, CoderDojo and Science Foundation Ireland.
Main image via Shutterstock
