There is one gender issue even in new technologies? Read the latest European Union report "Women in digital" it seems so. In fact, among ICT experts, only one in six is female. And even when women work in the industry, they earn 20% less than men on average. McKinsey in his study "The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation" it goes even further.
It's true, according to McKinsey, that to date barely 14% of artificial intelligence and machine learning professionals is female, but by 2030 between 40 and 160 million women globally will have to move into roles that will require more digital skills. The different occupational distribution, in fact, means that they are especially women who have to equip themselves for the digital transition as the 52% of their work will radically change as a result of automation and artificial intelligence. A process that the crisis generated by the Coronavirus it did nothing but accelerate.
From school to startups, the gap to fill
There are about 150 million new jobs. Concrete opportunities that could rebalance the gender issue, provided however that women know how to retrain. Such as? By investing in training. Yes, because this is precisely what has fueled the gender gap. Just think that in Italy just 12 women out of a thousand graduate in disciplines Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). And the percentage of women occupying technical-scientific positions is among the lowest in Europe: 31.7% against 68.9% for men.
Not only that, theOECD reminds us that the software developers employed in companies are less than the 15% and that innovative startups are mainly driven by men (as much as 90%). That's not all, because those owned by women seem to receive the 23% less in funding and have the 30% less likely to have a positive exit. A waste too often also dictated by prejudices cultural that no one can afford anymore.
An opportunity not to be missed
Cybersecurity and Internet of Things experts, big data analysts, app developers, Data Protection Officers: these are just some of the professions that will grow the most in the coming years and that could pave the way for a new female participation in the world of work. A prospect that many companies are trying to push: Amazon, for example, awarded the scholarship for the second year "Amazon Women in Innovation" to help female students develop technology skills. And initiatives such as Girls Who Code, Women & Tech, EQUAL-IST Gender Equality in Information Science and Technologies, to name but a few.
After all, the stakes are high, from all points of view. Suffice it to say that if the digital gender gap were closed, the European GDP it would have an increase of something like 16 billion euros.
Silvia Pagliuca
