Women’s lack of interest in the tech industry is problematic because of the constant shortage of skilled workers in the industry. In Finland, only 20% of technical experts are women, and this number is not enough to narrow the skills gap. Tietoevry’s research showed that women believed that employers and educational institutions need to do more to encourage women into the technology sector. Around 40% of women believed that employers are not doing enough to recruit women, while 36% of women felt that educational institutions could do more.
In addition, many respondents agreed that parents should play a more significant role in encouraging their daughters to pursue engineering careers. About 44% of women and 34% of men who answered the survey believed that parents did not do enough to motivate their daughters to choose a career in technology.
Country Director of Tietoevry Finland, Fairy tale Kiiskinen, said that different perspectives are important in, for example, application development, user testing and accessibility, which requires versatile skills. He also pointed out that as part of Tietoevry’s responsibility program, the company aims to achieve gender balance by 2030. They have set a goal of increasing the share of women in the workforce to 40 percent by 2026. In 2022, Tietoevry’s female workforce increased by two percentage points to 31 percent compared to the previous year.
In summary, it can be stated that although Finnish women recognize the importance of technology in combating the climate crisis, only a few see the technology sector as a profitable career option. This highlights the need for the industry to promote and encourage more women into the industry. Employers and educational institutions should offer more support and guidance to women interested in technology, and parents should also play an active role in motivating their daughters to consider technology as a career path. Tietoevry’s effort to increase the number of women in the workforce is commendable and an example for other technology companies.
HT
Source: The Nordic Page