More "IT-girls" in 2024, please!

by Sara Høyer, Head of Marketing & Communications at Epico-IT Group A/S.

There is a term out there that most often returns to the media image in continuation of various Fashion Weeks, but which software engineer Natascha Jensen later reinterpreted and introduced in an apt debate post in October 2023, which I, as a woman in the IT industry, have since really taken to heart: 'IT-girl' - i.e. as a pun on the IT version of the trendsetting "it-girl" in the fashion world.. And if we are to secure the necessary manpower for the IT workplaces, there is reason for the rest of Denmark to also start focusing just as much on the problem and focus more on IT girls - here why:

Both Minister for Digitalisation and Gender Equality Marie Bjerre (V) and Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund (M) believe that there is a need to get more women to work with IT and get them into the Danish IT industry. When we talk about addressing the under-representation of women in tech, we often talk about gender equality. However, it is not just a gender equality issue; It is also good business for the business community that is crying out for labour.

Today, there are approximately 160,000 IT specialists in Denmark, but according to figures from the EU, we will need 200,000 more already in 2030 - and even if AI is to be responsible for halving that need, we will still lack 100,000 IT specialists in just 6 years.

It sounds like a "mission impossible", but fortunately we have an untapped resource to draw on: Our "IT girls", so we can do away with the gender imbalance that only about one in five IT specialists in Denmark is a woman, and fortunately there are a number of low-hanging fruits in terms of attracting more girls and women to the technical professions.

One of the things we can improve is primary school girls' belief in their own abilities, which Deloitte and Kraka in 2023 just investigated: In Berlingske, you could get a taste of the fact that 43% of boys thought they were bad at mathematics and that it was due to themselves, while the figure was 72% for girls. At the same time, the difference between girls' and boys' actual abilities in mathematics was measured, where the difference was minimal. And then something extra startling: Denmark has the largest measured difference between boys' and girls' belief in themselves in the entire OECD. This is even though we consider ourselves one of the most equal countries in the world.

43% of the boys thought that they were bad at mathematics and that it was due to themselves, while the figure was 72% for the girls.

Although the problem can be seen in primary school, part of the cause may be found in the home. In any case, we can hear from our partner, the association Coding Pirates, which teaches children and young people about coding and new technology, that parents do not always have the same interest in engaging their girls as their boys: When the association holds so-called "children's IT conferences", where children can try their hand at new technologies, it often happens. that the parents hand over their sons - and not their daughters - to the activities. It is simply assumed that it is not interesting for the girls, but they also say that they have nevertheless seen a more positive development in the gender distribution in recent years.

However, it is not only in childhood that we see obstacles to developing more IT girls: According to a study from the Center for Computing Education Research at ITU, you can attract far more women by presenting IT as a field that deals with people. In other words, it is possible to do something about the situation, and here it is worth looking to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in their work for gender equality: According to the country's own statistics, 41% of the students in their country's STEM programs are women. Maybe we won't get there already in 2024, but shouldn't we aim to get a little there, so that Denmark is not lagging behind the UAE in issues of gender equality?

Removing obstacles so that more girls choose the IT industry and not not is sensible instead of seeking to outsource to Bangladesh and Pakistan; because we already have the resources we lack here in Denmark. But it requires a showdown that must be spurred on by a larger and more agenda-setting debate in 2024, which I hope that far more stakeholders will join on this year's debate stages around the country - including our Minister for Digitalization and Gender Equality Marie Bjerre.

On the one hand, we have a huge number of girls who unfortunately lose their faith that they can complete the technical STEM educations despite the fact that they actually can, while on the other hand, we have a labor market in the IT industry that stands and screams for their skills - and every time a position is not filled, If it slows down the growth of companies, increases imports and generally causes losses for the democratic community, which is why there must also be a large political stake in the matter.

To sum up: Let 2024 be the year when IT girls become commonplace; It's a win-win.

Written by Sara Høyer