Country report: Spain
2.2.6 THE GENDER ISSUE
Do you believe that because you are a woman there are specific enabling factors and constrains to your professional development in the ICT sector? If so, which ones would they be?
Were you attracted to the ICT sector when you were younger (for example: during your high school years)?
Is the ICT sector attractive to you? Why?
Do you believe there are prejudices associated to gender in the sector? If so, what sort? Do you feel discrimination at work? Do you feel disadvantaged?
Do you see yourself different from men regarding labour aspects? If so, how?
Do you consider that within your company tasks are divided by gender?
Do you consider that gender stereotypes that exist in some households are reproduced in the workplace?
This final block of questions aimed to get an idea of the specific gender relations affecting working situations in the ICT sector and the respondents’ particular views on the issues posed.
As to the first question, there is 50/50 split among those that believe that there are no specific enabling factors or constraints due to being a woman in the ICT sector and those who do. Moreover, among the former, it is pointed out in several instances that advantages or constraints depend on personality traits, not on being male or female. Only in two cases did reconciliation of work and family life appear among the answers. Among those who believed that there were no constraints, some enabling factors such as ability to listen, empathy, multi-tasking, networking, and being more organized and efficient were highlighted.
“The favourable factors from a gender point of view are based on the fact that women can collaborate with a very practical vision that enables equipping tools with real applications that are attractive to the market. A great opportunity of economic growth and social change will come from the influence of technology has in important tasks and in new ways or working. The management and control of time and the organization of one’s own professional career equips both men and women with a great mobility and this will change the labour panorama completely….The limitations from the professional point of view are directly related to the smaller percentage of women in technical professions and the high concentration of technological applications designed for masculine environments and consumers” (44 years old, CEO).
With regard to the second question, only three respondents answered that they had been attracted by technology in their younger years. But on answering the third question (attraction to the ICT sector), all respondents unanimously answered yes and for the most part pointed to the fact that its dynamism and the continuous learning aspect is what they found most attractive.
“The truth is no. The world of technology was never attractive to me…It is true that it is a “very masculine” sector and that in many occasions it can be distant from the “worldly problems”, but in general it is a very dynamic sector that moves at a great speed, which poses a daily challenges and the need to permanently renovate yourself” (36 years old, Project Manager).
The next two questions were directly related to existing prejudices at work and the way the women interviewed felt in their labour market position with respect to men. With regard to the existence of prejudices, discrimination and disadvantages, the sample was also split in half. Those answering that there were none of these phenomena in the ICT sector did not go into much detail in answering and are mostly in line with their previous answers on obstacles (that there were none). The women answering yes, felt that this was true in general and not a problem of the ICT sector in particular. However, in some cases the fact that it is a male dominated sector in its highest levels was mentioned (for example felt at meetings and other social events related to the ICT sector). In some cases it is pointed out that the prejudices also come from women.
“As an example, during the Telecommunications gala dinner , only 3.5% of the people present were women engineers. In addition to that, I believe that when you are a woman and you are attractive, occupying a good position both women and men question your worth as professional, they question your intellectual capacity and the means by which you arrived to your current position. I believe that there is labour discrimination from men to women, but also from women to women” (42 years old, Technical engineer).
On the other hand, the question on whether the respondents saw themselves as different from men labour-wise had a surprising outcome. In the case of women who answered that they did not believe there was any discrimination, disadvantage or prejudices, most also answered that they did not see themselves as different from men and in the case they answered yes, the difference was that women have advantages over men (better organised, multi-task, etc.). In the case of women who felt that there were prejudices, disadvantages and discrimination, an overwhelming majority did not see themselves as different from men in the labour or working aspects. However, some did mention that they were getting less pay and less opportunities for progress at work, they saw themselves mostly as equals.
“Yes, I believe that our abilities to communicate and to deal with people are much better, something that is decisive when managing people and working in groups” (33 years old, R&D engineer).
Finally, the last two questions addressed the division of labour along gender roles in the respondents workplace and the transfer of stereotypes from the household into the labour market. In this case there has also been a 50/50 split into those answering that in their companies tasks are divided by gender. However, the overwhelming majority (75%) does believe that stereotypes are transferred from the home to the workplace.
“[Differences by gender] are disappearing. I know this because of what I see in my company and in companies that I know in the sector. The tasks related to systems, communications networks and hardware configuration, have been associated to men. Programming has a mixed association. But right now the number of women is equal to the number of men in the sector. I do not believe that there is a division of tasks by gender, and even more, in a very short time there are going to exist more women specialised in networks that there are men…this is what the University system statistics say!” (41 years old, Partner-director).
“Yes, how could it be any other way? If I educate my son in a “male chauvinist” way, without teaching him what respect, fairness and equality are, and without certain key values…how can we even pretend that in the future he will become a fair fellow worker or boss?” (34 years old, Web designer).