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Unequal pay only partly to blame for lack of women in IT
Macho culture and lack of flexi-work also a problem

By Steve Ranger

Published: Monday 27 February 2006

Flexible working, a macho culture and equal pay all need to be addressed if the IT industry is to attract more women, according to UK IT supplier body Intellect.

A report by the Women and Work Commission published today has revealed that women in full-time work were earning 17 per cent less than men.

But removing barriers to women working in occupations traditionally done by men, and increasing women's participation in the labour market, could be add between £15bn and £23bn to GDP.

IT is one of the sectors where women are particularly under-represented - for example, of the 110,000 people working in financial services IT, only 27,000 are women.

But pay is just one issue that needs to be fixed if more women are to be attracted into technology jobs, said IT industry body Intellect.

Intellect programme manager Carrie Hartnell said in a statement: "Government, industry and unions must come together to discuss and examine pay schemes. This is fundamental in attracting the right people. Failing to address such issues will affect our global competitiveness."

But she added: "If we want our organisations to grow then we must consider all the issues, not just pay; lack of flexible working, male-dominated environment, industry culture and company values and practices, are the core reasons why the IT sector is unattractive to women."