Why women are underrepresented in tech leadership roles and how to solve this

Where are the female tech leaders?

• New research reveals that women still only make up 27% of tech leaders at FTSE 100 companies

• The number of female CIOs at FTSE 100 companies has barely increased since 2018

Despite a widening discourse around gender equality in tech over in recent years, new research by Frank Recruitment Group into the gender makeup of Chief Information Officers at FTSE 100 companies highlights that progress has been slow.

CIOs are responsible for managing a company’s IT systems and functions, such as computer technologies, digital transformation, and data security. These professionals also make executive decisions, implement policies, and enable new business models. They are technology experts, strategic advisors, business leaders, and innovators.

The new research digs deeper into the gender imbalance of FTSE 100 CIOs, collating the FTSE 100 list for 2018 – 2022 with the aim of establishing the gender identities and tenures of CIOsat leading companies during this period. The key findings paint a fairly stark picture for female tech leaders.

• Across the past five years, just 42 women have had the opportunity to hold a CIO position at a FTSE 100 company, compared to 138 men
• In 2022, at just 27%, women still accounted for less than a third of all CIOs
• When it comes to tenure, women tend to serve as CIO for a shorter period of time, with an average tenure of two years as compared to three years for men

• There were 37 men whose tenure had exceeded five years, but only four women held that same distinction
• There were only ten more female CIOs in 2022 than there had been in 2018.

The findings are consistent with other recent research into diversity and inclusion at FTSE 100 companies. Outside of tech executive positions, Ernst & Young reported that women accounted for just 14% of executive directorships last year. Even looking at management roles as Statista did in 2020, women made up less than 35%. According to Revolent, it’s a similar story at Fortune 500 companies, where women hold just 19% of CIO roles and also have a shorter average tenure.

Inclusion is about more than presence of course, and for women in tech, securing the role isn’t the whole battle. In 2021, Bloomberg estimated the gender pay gap in tech at 3%. So in addition to difficulty accessing leadership opportunities, women are also paid less in those roles. Female leaders also often work harder and for longer hours than men in the same positions, but their efforts go unnoticed. As a result, they are more likely to experience stress and burnout, which can take a toll on their mental wellbeing. As shown by McKinsey, factors other than gender also play a role in further compounding these experiences, as is the case for women of color, for example.

We live in an era marked by pronounced technological innovation, but ultimately, insofar as equity and equality are concerned,progress remains slow. Judging by the findings of this new research, some companies are either disinterested or acting too cautiously. With a growing skills gap in tech, compounded by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation, business cannot afford not to pursue equality if they intend to meet these challenges.

A recent global study affirms that female leaders are highly assertive, strong-willed, and persuasive. What’s more, they tend to have a higher risk tolerance than men. Women also take the time to reflect, analyse things, and listen to others, and often have a collaborative leadership style which is crucial to the smooth running of any business. Harvard Business Review (HBR) says that women attain higher scores for most leadership skills compared to their male counterparts. McKinsey have found that women are more inclusive, more empathetic leaders and that they tend to support EDI initiatives more than their male counterparts.

And while equality is fundamentally important in and of itself, having more women in leadership positions can also improve a company’s bottom line. Previous research also by Frank Recruitment Group revealed that 87% of the companies on the list led by a female CEO reported above-average profits, compared to 78% of companies with male leaders.

Business transformation requires more than using the latest tech or keeping up with industry trends. It also implies a cultural shift, one that is powerful enough to break barriers. A good starting point would be to hire more women, and to support them into leadership roles. This may mean rethinking the hiring process entirely, and it will also mean ensuring that women have access to mentorship opportunities. Visibility plays a key role when it comes to diversifying an organization, so supporting more women into leadership positions will also help address the skills gap and talent shortages by encouraging more women to apply for tech roles.

Methodology

Developed in 1984, the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 Index ranks qualifying UK companies based on market capitalisation. Readjustment of the index takes place quarterly, and the list includes 100 organizations across most industries.

Researchers at Frank Recruitment Group collated the lists of FTSE 100 companies for the years 2018 – 2022. The 2022 list was drawn from Hargreaves Lansdown and used Internet Archive for the years 2018 – 2021. All lists correspond to the third financial quarter of their respective years.

LinkedIn was used to identify company profiles and their Chief Information Officers. Results included all CIO positions up to 20 entries per company. For each CIO, their public personal LinkedIn profile, company website, Business Wire and Newswire to determine their gender according to the pronouns used in their own content or official business communications. Data on CIOs is accurate to September 12^th 2022.