Sexism in IT – four years on has anything changed?

In 2017, we commissioned research into sexism within the IT industry. Then, as now, it was considered a male-dominated industry. The question is: in the four years since then, has the industry made any progress?

To find the answer, we asked a few of the same questions as our last questionnaire – asking people about their experiences and attitudes on everything from harassment to promotion.

The good news is that there does seem to have been some improvements, in some areas. More women bosses. Less acceptance of explicit ‘banter’.

The not-so-good news is that those improvements are mostly small. A few percentage points here and there. Small, incremental steps – but far from anything that looks like equality.

And the outright bad news is that some areas don’t seem to have changed at all. Instances of sexual harassment are the same as before, while even more women say they have experienced discrimination. Sexism is alive and well, from the personal level to the sector-wide, systematic level.

So, despite the slight improvements between 2017 and 2021 (in some areas), there is still some way to go…

We believe the lack of women in IT one of the most (de)pressing issues the industry has to face up to today. And it’s not just a question of ethics: an industry dominated by one gender is neglecting half of its potential customers and (vitally for us) employees. It’s a bottom-line issue.

So, from addressing unacceptable workplace behaviours to getting more girls into STEM education (something we’ve written about over the years), this is an issue that should be confronted – and urgently. The numbers show movement, but not enough. See the highlight stats for yourself here.