Share to linkedinEfforts to expand the pipeline by bringing in more non-traditional female and minority candidates are beginning to help turn the tide. But one unheralded opportunity to close this tech workforce gap might be to address the more thanTo help uncover why women remain in tech careers, acompared the experiences of women that have stayed in the field for at least eight years against those that have moved on to new careers after three or more years.
Many of the reasons that women cited for staying or leaving their careers will feel familiar to people in any industry. Fifty six percent remained in tech because they were good at their work. Enjoyment working with other technologists , fair and good compensation , and the flexibility to achieve work-life balance were also important contributors to remaining in the field.
Interestingly, 73% of women who chose to stay in tech for the long-term said they had considered leaving at some point due to workplace challenges such as limited advanced opportunities , unfair compensation compared to peers , and little support from management . Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the survey were three X-Factors that demonstrated a stark difference between the experiences of the women who stayed and those who left tech careers: Among women who stayed in tech, 75% had women role models at their company, while 44% of women who chose to leave tech did not.