Tech is an industry desperate for talent. Yet, despite having women representing 40 to 45 percent of college graduates each year, we have very few of them joining the tech-related workforce—whether it’s in IT, computing or engineering.
“I grew up listening to others say ‘Girls don’t score as high in science and math as boys,’ or ‘Science and technology is not for girls,’ so despite always having a keen interest to study Computer Science in college, I chose Human Resource Management and Marketing instead,” says Farhana Akhter, 26.
Starting early—a learning space for women
Farhana is not the only girl who ended up studying something entirely different than what she had initially planned.
A report published in 2008 by Professor Shamima K Choudhury, Department of Physics, University of Dhaka, titled “Challenges of Women in Science: Bangladesh Perspectives” indicates that more women than men with Science or Engineering degrees opt into other fields of study during the transition to graduate school.
The report also highlights that women only make up nine to 11 percent of the total number of students enrolled in Computer Science or Engineering departments in University of Dhaka, Jahangir Nagar University and BUET.
Ishita Akhter, 22, took Computer Science in her A-Levels and that’s where she drew the line. “Everyone thought I’m better off studying something else like Fashion Designing, or International Business.” She says besides friends, peers and family members, even some of her teachers suggested she choose something “a little less complex.”
“How many times have you not raised your hand to ask a simple question during lectures, thinking others may judge you as ‘stupid’? Multiply that anxiety by 10 when you are thinking of girls sitting in a Computer Science class,” adds Ishita, who believes girls need a judgment-free space to learn coding skills and new programming languages from scratch.Not enough role models
In the male-dominated tech industry, how many girls actually consider computer science or engineering as a potential college major?
“When we think of a role model who may represent the Computer Science department of a university, we generally picture a quiet guy in thick glasses, carrying his laptop. No one would imagine a girl in his place, representing the department where guys mostly enroll in,” says Ashik, 24, a Computer Science graduate, who sincerely hopes to extinguish the gender disparity in the tech world.
“It would be entirely wrong to say there isn’t a single female idol in the tech industry that one could reap inspiration from. Allison Korczynski, electronic engineer at Microsoft or Brine Lee, the first female engineer at Instagram are some really great examples but we are yet to see renowned female engineers or IT professionals in the country,” says Ashik.
But in order to create these role models in Bangladesh, the problems women face in tech need to be identified and acknowledged. Promoting a corporate culture where all employees are equally respected, regardless of their gender is the need of the hour.The corporate world
Urmi Ahmed, head of HR in an IT firm, says she mostly has men coming in for programming, graphic designing, developing, or software engineer positions at her company. “IT is still an incredibly male-dominated field.”
“Many of my friends and family members still embrace the age-old cultural biases and have mixed feelings about women working in IT.” says Farhana. She believes cultural expectations influence the gender division to such a great extent that it results in women pursuing careers in other fields, even if they have studied or express interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Nuzhat Binte Arif is a product designer at Grameen Intel Social Business Limited, and thinks there is definitely an unconscious bias, forcing women in tech to spend longer trying to prove that they know what they're talking about. "It's tiring and boring, frankly, but we just have to keep at it for now. There is also the culture of omitting women's achievements. Society does it, and sometimes we do it ourselves because there's a perceived notion that we should be humble." But this makes it difficult for young girls looking for role models and mentors and ultimately creates a lonely environment for the few who try to make it into the industry.
"I think we need to encourage young girls to learn more about tech, make it interesting for them, and make it so that it's not 'scary' or 'something that boys are good at.' We also need to create awareness that the tech industry is huge. It's not just about programming. There are so many aspects to it like design, user research, hardware, management, software, testing, etc."
Nuzhat believes that the industry could benefit hugely from employing women, who are a large portion of the customer base and could provide invaluable input on how the 'other half' of the population thinks.
