Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of Australian companies in the last five years have increased the number of female professionals moving into technology roles, according to a recent survey from specialist recruiter, Robert Half.
The survey, released on the eve of International Women’s Day (March 8), polled 900 chief information officers (CIO) and chief technology officers (CTO) from Australia, France, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
The results showed that Australian companies hiring women for IT roles were well ahead of the average 44 per cent recruitment increase in all other surveyed countries.
According to findings, the growth of female IT professionals in Australia is higher in medium companies (76 per cent) than in small (62 per cent) and large (58 per cent) companies.
Australian CIOs reported that the key ways to develop female technology leaders is best driven by mentoring programs (33 per cent), greater enrolment in technology education (26 per cent) and government initiatives (23 per cent).
Robert Half director APAC, Nicole Gorton, said there is a still a lack of female leaders in senior management and more needs to be done to continue boosting the number of women in leadership roles.
“Nurturing this early interest through education and through mentoring programs will assist women to identify opportunities in the technology sector and create pathways to future leadership roles,” she said.
