Gender discrimination widespread in IT

Yet almost all women would still prefer a male boss

Some 51 per cent of female employees in the IT sector have been victims of gender discrimination, according to research from IT recruiters Greythorn.

Despite more than 60 per cent of all IT workers agreeing that discrimination exists, half of this group admit they would not take any action against it.

"Sexism has to be actively stamped out of the workplace and those who blithely accept it are just as much to blame as people who actively discriminate," said Paul Winchester, managing director of Greythorn.

"Unfortunately, discrimination has made working in the IT industry an unfair and often deeply frustrating experience for women," he added.

"At present, only 24 per cent of IT workers are women, an increase from 20 per cent in 2006," said Winchester.

"If this rate of growth continues, it will take 54 years for women in IT to achieve parity with the rest of the labour market."

Surprisingly, female respondents indicated that they would still prefer to have a male boss.

The research found that eight per cent of men would prefer to report to a woman, while only six per cent of females expressed this view.

This is likely to have a significant impact on women achieving promotions in the IT sector, where 49 per cent felt they were discriminated against during the promotion process.

"While gender discrimination is sadly alive and well in the IT sector, this is not wholly driven by prejudice among those at the top," said Winchester.

"Both men and women prefer male bosses and so arguably discrimination is perpetuated by employees at all levels."