Only 5% of Startups are Founded by Women [Infographic]
Women have come a long way in achieving equality in the workplace. But technology is one of the industries where they just can’t seem to catch up.
According to an infographic published in the IT Manager Daily, 56% of professional jobs in the US are held by women—but in IT, just 25% of jobs are held by women. And more than half of all women who enter the field of technology end up leaving for a different career.
Perhaps the most alarming statistic is that just 5% of tech startups are launched by women. It doesn’t get any more lopsided than a 20-to-1 ratio.
And things don’t seem to be getting better, either. In 1985, over one-third of students graduating with computer and information science degrees were women. But by 2009, that number had plunged to just 18%—leaving four in five of the techie degrees to be held by men.
Further, even when women do have tech jobs, they don’t make enough. Nearly one-third of computer and information system managers are women, but they make 18% less money than their male counterparts. 22% of computer programmers are women, but they make 5% less than their male counterparts. And 21% of computer software engineers are women, but they make 9% less.
