Challenges Faced By Women In Technology
The world has heard enough mythical stories about women being equally strong to men not just mentally but sometimes physically in bearing heavy pain. One such familiar tale is from a group of tribes living deep inside a forest. It is said that every year they conduct a physical test to validate who endures severe pain from honey bee bite to choose the leader of the tribe group. But so far, no male has ever won it. It is not just the tribe women who are proving their strength. Today, thousands of well-educated women in modern society are taking up tech jobs to prove their skills. But unfortunately, they are mediated by some barriers they need to overcome in order to settle and fit in their tech jobs. Lack of gender equality balance is a major obstacle that pushes women at tech to enact like a minion to their male coordinates. But social desires impact the sexual orientation of women in leadership and make them more strong and vocational.
Unconsicous bias
Eighty-two percent of women in the Indian tech workplace feel unheard at their jobs. This signifies a problem with workplace culture. Technology is a male-dominated field and an inherent gender bias can result in lesser attention to the contributions of women at the workplace. Unconscious bias, at its worst, reduces a professional to the value of her gender, rather than the sum of her experience and skills.
Upskilling
It is imperative for women on a career break to reskill before attempting to get back to work. The same is true for women professionals who are not on a break — upskilling opens up avenues and gives women the confidence to pursue leadership goals.
Balancing Personal and Professional Life
Even when there is enough female majority in the IT sector, the women comprehended show hesitance to speak out as they think they don’t have the full assistance and support of the collaborators. The working women too come from a family where there is chaos at times. Both the family and work pressure push them into a deep pit from where they are trying to escape for a long time. Women try to keep a balance between work and home. Most of their energy is spent totally on validating their balance.
Lack of Support and Understanding
Female IT employees often report feeling as though they don’t have the full support of their coworkers. They also feel a lack of support at home in cases where their family members and friends still embrace cultural biases regarding women in the workforce. Attitudes about the role of women at home often prevent female IT workers from achieving a healthy work-life balance. Also, new mothers often cut short their paid maternity leave because they feel as though they will lose their job or promotion because of their absence. Handling inequality and discrimination in the workplace is hard on its own, but handling it without any support for the chosen career makes things even harder. Working on improving the quality of family communication can go a long way in making sure that every female IT worker’s family member understands that their job in the IT industry is important to them.