Women make up less than 1/3 of Australian ICT workforce

A recent report produced by Deloitte Access Economics for the Australian Computer Society has revealed that women are working in less than one-third of Australian ICT positions. Women represent 28 percent of the ICT workforce, compared with 45 percent across all professional industries.

According to the report, the underrepresentation of women in ICT is linked to the low participation rate of young girls in STEM subjects at schools across Australia, and can have serious economic impacts. In a bid to increase the number of young girls studying STEM, programs such as Code Like a Girl are running workshops for girls and women across Australia, and the Federal Government has so far awarded $3.9 million of the $8 million Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship grant program. With the number of ICT occupations expected to exhibit annual growth of 2.3 percent from 2017 to 2023, the opportunities for women in ICT are likely to increase in the coming years.