by Sean Hillen

As an unbeatable athlete with a breathtaking freestyle skiing style, Eileen Gu took the last Winter Olympics by storm winning multiple gold medals.

But what has Gu got to do with women in IT you might ask.

Well, there was something she said that impressed me when she talked about being the only girl in her ski team until she was 14.

“Infinite times I’d sit on the chair-lift and hear off-handedly remarks from boys around me like, ‘Oh, I’m skiing like a girl today, I’m so bad.’ I was eight years-old. Can you imagine how that can impact you as you grow up? I’ve long felt this unjust burden. Because if I wasn’t good, I’d be confirming all these subconscious biases against women.” 

And the thought stayed with me and I wondered during the Web Summit if women in the IT sector feel like Eileen Gu sometimes.

Powered in part by development of AI, the tech world is expanding exponentially but are women receiving their fair share of the pie in terms of higher-level jobs, and income? 

While the number of women in the tech world is increasing, that number still remains far below that of men. As does the number of women in high positions.

Cause for concern? Depends whom you ask.

Many women say yes. Some men agree while others remain mute, preferring to park their bums on the fence.

The immensely successful international Web Summit held in Lisbon founded by Donegal-based, Irish entrepreneur, Paddy Cosgrave, provided fertile ground for harvesting comments on the issue.

So I did just that.

Here’s a few opinions, both on-video and in-writing. What’s your view? Feel free to add your comment.

Firstly, many women consider tech a rewarding sector. “Women should be attracted to it,” said Deirdre McCarthy with FLIT.ie Financial Wellness and AllSkills Education CLG. “It’s interesting, can lead to well-paying jobs and there’s few careers that allow you to stretch your mental capacity in the same way.  You can also have a jigsaw of a career, mixing contract and full-time employment.”

But there is a caveat. “To be successful as a woman you need to tough it out, to call out the crap when you see it and not take nonsense from colleagues or bosses,” Deirdre said. “Some women enter the tech world but don’t remain visible in their roles. We’re not seeing enough strong women being ballsy.” 

She added, “Many women are quite doubtful about working in the tech sector (or staying in the tech sector if this is where they started out), because of 996 culture (long hours), a macho bro approach of a lot of the techie chaps, family circumstances, a normalisation of adult content which is coupled with a bit of derisive attitude towards women, and a determination to promote men over women.”

In the era of Trumpism, women face an added challenge – inclusion is being denied. “Many leading companies have dismantled their DEI policies and rushed back to a white male narrative,” said Deirdre. “Tech companies are among the worst as they are dependent on client funding and contacts. Seems they’re afraid to make women visible and powerful.”

According to the WomenTech Network research, only one-third of American employees in STEM companies are women. Less than 10 percent of women hold positions like CIO, CTO, or IT manager, or serve as technical team leaders.

Deirdre said diversity is limited. “This goes beyond women – we should see diversity in teams,“ she said. “Diversity in age, diversity in gender, diversity in background, diversity in culture. We need those small frictions and guarded conversations that come from speaking with people from backgrounds that we are unfamiliar with, maybe suspicious of.” 

Acknowledging bias, speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon, English Jameela Jamil, actress, activist and podcaster believes women “must be part of the conversation, they must be invested in the tech world.”

In response to a question by me at the summit, Daniele Braga, founder and CEO of Defined.ai, providing one of the largest marketplace sources of training data for AI, said the gender gap needs to be filled, for the benefit of everyone.

At the same press conference, Dr. Vasco Pedro, founder and CEO of Spinnable.ai said it is important for women to be involved, especially in the development of AI.

So what can be done to elevate more women into the sector and into higher positions? Mirin McDonald from Ireland, a member of the ‘Women in Tech’ group, said “greater education about the sector and more recognition of women’s roles is required, by both employers and governments. They must take notice of the discrepancies between men and women. And they need to do it  now. Women in the tech world are achieving a lot in so many different areas but they are not being recognised for them as much as they really deserve. It is simply unfair. My hope is that this changes. The sooner, the better.”

So, if indeed, women find it difficult to have their voices heard within IT, or reach the higher echelons, is the sector being adversely affected?

“What both genders can bring to the table, and which we are yet not seeing enough of, is vulnerability, honesty and life realities,” said Deirdre. “Women often lead with honesty.  This can be mistaken as lack of confidence, or interpreted as lack of credibility. I actually believe that this is the MOST underrated characteristic.   We need to celebrate the people who call out the mistakes and point out flaws and false starts. These are often the people who show true grit in digging out essential details and getting them right. We need to get beyond bluster and stay grounded and in touch with reality.” 

She added,  There’s a lot of hype right now about AI and I’ve seen chaps my age (i.e. middle aged chaps, often the ones controlling the funding or awards) getting over-enthused about solutions offered by male presenters which are missing essential components and details – but there’s a level of arrogance in the presenters who skip detail and confidently present shell solutions, and in the audience who assumes that confidence = competence. Both sides need to reality-check themselves.”

McDonald and McCarthy both agree. “Showcase women. Put us on panels. Stop the effing manels. We’re bored just watching guys out-waffling one another. Put women in there. Encourage them to ask challenging questions. Ask ‘What are we (all) really looking for?’ A chance to be seen as a person, for our abilities and uniqueness to be recognised, and to use our skills to create something greater than ourselves. We all want to be part of a collective.”

“Failing that,” adds Deirdre. “Grow a pair (of boobs).”