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4 Reasons Why Women Should Learn Technology

Aka Chung
July 5, 2021

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Did you know that recent statistics suggest it would take 108 years to balance the gender equilibrium in the tech industry?

For quite some time now we have been living under the stereotype that technology is a man's game. This is no secret or revelation, of course, what with all of the media and attention the topic has gotten over the last decade or so. Despite this assertion of gender equality in the mainstream, women only held 26% of professional computing jobs in 2017.

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Demographic diversity is believed to be beneficial to industrial development as it brings creativity and, hence, innovation. Such an imbalanced gender ratio potentially obstructs technology evolution, making closing the gap one of the major obstacles to be overcome.

Think about it: As long as women are not playing strong roles in technology development, as a species, we are missing out on over half of the population’s contributions to advancement.

Now that the issue of gender inequality in tech has a spotlight like never before, modern research suggests new findings that provide even more reasons for women to be given larger opportunities in technology. Here are some rather interesting perspectives that you might not have considered:


Women are good coders

There is a notion that girls are better at languages and communicating, while men outperform women in maths and spatial ability. This saying has low credibility though, as more scientific research shows that such strengths and weaknesses of oneself may not be associated with gender.

However, when it comes to coding, it seems there is some solid evidence that proves women are better coders than men. Researchers find software repository GitHub approved code written by women at a higher rate than code written by men, but only if the gender was not disclosed. “Our results suggest that although women on GitHub may be more competent overall, bias against them exists nonetheless,” the study’s authors write.

So, girls, it is time to beat this bias! The first step begins with taking action to learn tech.


Companies prefer diversity in the workplace

Diversity seems to be the key to obtain sustainability, no matter if it is toward the ecosystem or your investment portfolio. A study finds that diverse companies produce 19% more revenue) on average than those with more… homogeneous cultures.

When various opinions and perspectives come together it creates space for unique ideas and movements that may even help businesses mitigate the risks of more unilateral thinking.

Companies desire to have a diverse team, creating a deep demand for female tech talent in the market and less friction for females to enter the industry.


Women are the key to development

Women stand for half of the workforce in the world. Imagine if almost half of the population refuses to move on to the technology generation, how technologically “advanced” can we become?

As more industries become data-driven and technology-reliant, tech jobs are not limited to coding and machinery. Traditional non-tech roles are also undergoing the transformation of informatization and becoming tech-savvy. Basic technical skills, therefore, are added as “preferrable” skills on the requirement section of job descriptions. For instance, Python for finance roles and coding skills for digital marketers, etc.

For the growing amount of new roles combining tech with communication and creativity, women can have more options when we choose how to contribute to the development.

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Best paying freelance jobs

Game developers and web developers are ranked as the 10th and the 2nd highest paying freelance jobs respectively. While freelance working style is desired by people with a need for great work-life balance by nature, females experience even more substantial needs when it comes to pregnancy.

For women who refuse to give up their careers for children, freelancing in tech becomes an optimal choice for them to strive for a balance between married life and career pursuits.

Women are standing in many important positions in the world nowadays and the world is expecting more! Gender should not be an obstacle to pursue your dream career. To start the journey, consider taking a tech training course in Hong Kong from Xccelerate.

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If you're interested in looking for a career change and want to step into the tech industry, join our Women In Tech scholarship!


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