Men in senior positions in Maltese ICT industries are definitely in favour of women taking a bigger role in this increasingly important sector for the Maltese economy and the creation of the Maltese information Society. Yet, the relatively low number of women remains a negative aspect of an industry that is otherwise full of positives for the country, effectively sanctioning male dominance.
“Even though we have seen more female participation in the IT workforce, recently there remains a significant imbalance, far more so than in other disciplines such as finance,” according to Matthew Camilleri, managing director at Castille Resources Ltd, a specialist recruitment agency for the ICT and finance sectors.
“Women’s soft skills compliment, in my opinion, those of men very effectively in the work place, therefore it is always in the interest of businesses to ensure women are well represented in their teams.”
This imbalance is being addressed through several initiatives. Earlier this year i-Tech reported about the international Girls in ICT initiative which was also held in Malta, where the views of women in this sector were also presented to the readers.
The Malta Information Technology Agency is organising the local competition of the international Digital Woman of the Year and the Digital Girl of the Year 2013 Awards. The aim is to promote the contribution of women in this sector. For the record, the board of directors at Mita is composed of five men and just one woman.
“Actually this state of affairs is not unique to Malta,” said Godfrey Vella, the Maltese digital champion.
“In the USA, amazingly only 12 per cent of all computer science graduates in 2012 were female. There is a lot of debate as to why this is so. Women are now using computers and the internet at rates similar to their male peers.
“As producers of ICTs, programmers, analysts, technicians and so on, women are very under-represented. I believe that the main cause is that there is still an ingrained cultural bias against females taking on technology jobs. They are somehow seen as unfeminine.”
“Unfeminine” as they may seem, women are just as capable and effective as men in these roles, according to James Bonello, managing director at Crimsonwing, one of the biggest ICT companies in Malta specialising in software solutions.
“Our experience with women in software development roles is that they perform just as well as men. We definitely do not agree with the comment that women are not ‘techies’ or not suitable for a career in ICT.”
Crimsonwing has around 180 employees, with a ratio of 80:20 between males and females. Discrimination on the grounds of gender is banned.
“In our quality management system, we have a policy against harassment which among other things covers gender related issues. Also we have a series of career progression guidelines that literally allow staff members of any gender to pursue any role within the organisation.
“At Crimsonwing women stand the same chance of being promoted to the next level as much as men and obviously no gender preference is made when filling relatively higher roles.
“This is clearly evidenced by the fact that, although few in number, women are present in practically every role at Crimsonwing and they have even occupied head and directorial positions,” explained Mr Bonello.
I am sure not many years ago we had the same issue, with lawyers, accountants and doctors
Just last week i-Tech interviewed Claudine Cassar, the newly appointed chair of the Information and Communications Technology Business Section at the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. The Maltese representative of Microsoft is also a woman, Adrianna Zammit. There are examples of women climbing the industry ladder but they remain few and far between.
“There is no real reason why this should be so, except for the usual stereotyping and cultural issues,” insists Keith Fearne, managing director and ICT Solutions Ltd, one of the fastest growing ICTcompanies in Malta who has previously held senior positions in this industry.
“Females make as good technicians, engineers and programmers as their male counterparts. The problem starts at home, but unfortunately is not being countered at school. When one looks back over the years, one would probably find that this to be a trend with most professions.
“I am sure not many years ago we had the same issue, with lawyers, accountants and doctors. As the profession becomes more visible it starts to change. I am certain that in the coming years this imbalance will start to be addressed.”
Mr Fearne, however, points out that the role of women is only one of the problems. The take up of ICT as a career across the board needs a boost as more workers, and even more specialised ones, are needed if we want to turn Malta into a knowledge economy.
The problems at school level are confirmed by statistics and the concern is widely shared by the top industry executives.
A spokesman for the Ministry for Education and Employment revealed to i-Tech that only 10.56 per cent of students in state girls’ secondary schools have chosen computer studies as an optional subject, while 24.4 per cent of students in state boy’s secondary schools have done so, which is almost two-and-a-half times higher.
In total, just 17.42 per cent of state secondary schools have chosen to specialise in computer studies.
Mr Bonello, Mr Vella and Mr Fearne are all for decisive action in the Maltese primary and secondary sectors of the educational system to address the situation.
“It is a matter that we need to give much more thought to,” concludes the Maltese digital champion.