Although the ICT sector has experienced exponential growth in recent years in Colombia, dAccording to Fedesoft, some 162,000 professionals will be needed by 2025 with the skills that today’s market demands.
For Ximena Duque, CEO of Fedesoft, The training of young people has become one of the most urgent tasks, which also includes closing the gender gap.
“Only 35% of the ICT sector is made up of women, and of the 2019 IT talent graduates, only 23.2% were women. The role of women in engineering and technology has been incipient, because we have thought that it is not a sector for us and it is a mistake. Technology is a feminine world, it is a space for creativity, care innovation and instinct”, Duke pointed out.
(See also: Youth unemployment, at 20.6% between November and January).
And it is that not only is there a lack of female representation in companies in the IT sector, but, according to the IT observatory of the Ministry of ICT, the difference in salaries offered to women in IT positions compared to men in similar positions is 15%.
“The problem here is that not only are female IT professionals being left behind to be hired by companies, but they are also being paid less. According to a study by Women in Tech from the Page Group, 32% of the gender imbalance comes from employers themselves”Duke said.
(We recommend: Government announced 200,000 vacancies for young people between 18 and 28 years old).
According to Fedesoft, although the figures make the gender gap increasingly explicit, entrepreneurship has given way to many women taking their own business ideas in the IT sector into their hands.
“In Colombia, according to the ICT Ministry, 39% of technology projects and enterprises are led by women. Likewise, a study revealed by LinkedIn showed that the number of women in administrative positions in companies increased by 18% in recent years”, highlighted Fedesoft.
(See also: The panorama of women in the post-pandemic labor market).
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