The percentage of women in IT varies significantly Although some of the numbers on gender diversity in by specialization and that variation also varies by IT may appear disappointing, there are also hopeful country. As an example, in the US over 35 percent of signs. At one leading US technology school, computer 39 web developers are female, while only 12 percent of science is now the most popular degree for women . computer network architects are women. Canada has a similar pattern, with web developers at the very high Furthermore, education may not be the gating factor end of the diversity range and computer and network that some think it is. While less than a fifth of US operators and web technicians at the lower end. On computer science graduates were women in 2013, as the other hand, the UK data shows that the percentage of 2014 the proportion of women in tech roles in US of web design and development professionals who companies was 24 percent in 2014, and 27 percent of 40 are female is only slightly higher than the UK average IT managerial roles were held by women . for all IT jobs, likely one of the factors (along with the low number of women in senior IT positions) that And speaking of leadership, there have never been more 41 contributes to the UK’s poor performance on gender senior women in tech , particularly high-profile female 42 diversity in IT roles compared to all the other countries C-suite executives : this is providing leadership, role 35 models and mentors for women and girls considering a mentioned . career in IT. It is important to note that diversity and inclusion are about much more than gender. As an example, ethnicity Another positive is that the IT job categories with the appears to be a significant factor in reaching senior lowest female representation are shrinking over time, levels in leading Silicon Valley tech companies: all of and the more balanced categories are growing43, Hispanics, Asians and blacks are at a disadvantage suggesting that we may be nearing a tipping point to white men or white women at executive levels, in diversity. Further, tech companies are leading the 36 broader IT industry: the US tech companies that released according to a 2015 US study . And of course, industries other than IT suffer from gender gaps for both their gender diversity numbers in 2013 had an average participation and pay. of 30.3 percent female employees, and that number 44 rose in 2014 by 0.15 percent . Women in IT companies Although the focus of this prediction has been on women in IT professions, there is a distinct but related topic of gender diversity within IT companies, specifically at the large American (usually Silicon Valley-based) companies. There are tech companies that 37 currently publish their diversity numbers on an annual basis and they average about 32 percent female employees in 2014. These companies are a key part of the technology sector, likely represent the broader tech company employment picture, and are likely to be an important source of IT jobs for women going forward. But these companies have many workers in many different occupations, not all of which are IT jobs. One sample of six US tech companies showed that although their total workforce was 38 30-39 percent women, the number of women in ‘tech jobs’ was only 10-20 percent . Increasing the gender diversity at these companies is likely an important goal, but only tangentially connected to the larger picture of women in IT jobs. Because of the considerable public spotlight on these companies as bellwethers for women in technology, it seems a reasonable prediction that the gender diversity numbers at high-profile publicly traded companies are likely to rise at a faster rate than for women in IT functions or jobs. Therefore it will be important to recognize that even if some Silicon Valley companies have 50 percent female employees that may not mean that the diversity of women in IT jobs across the US or developed countries in general has improved to the same extent. 6