Sixty-seven per cent of women find entering the IT industry harder than progressing up the ranks, according to a new study.

Research by skills development firm The Training Camp says women entering the industry are discouraged at the first hurdle. 

But 52 of the 100 women who took part in the survey said they could move up the career ladder more quickly than in other industries.

Anecdotal findings of the research reinforce the statistics describing how entry into the industry presented problems such as demonstrating credibility and suitability in a male-dominated sector.

The Training Camp chief executive officer Robert Chapman says despite multiple initiatives the IT industry is still failing to attract women into the sector.

‘And yet it offers enormous opportunity to those that make it when compared to other professions,’ said Chapman.

‘As an industry, it’s vital we don’t patronise women but we need to think what can be done to make it easier for them to break in to the sector,’ he said.