How The It Sector Will Benefit From The 2010 Equality Act

Look around any high-profile IT Company and it immediately becomes apparent that equality and diversity has been adopted less cohesively in our sector, than in many other industries. At a time when women are being truly recognized for their input to business, through the rise of Entrepreneurs and improvements in accessibility for women to training, IT seems to have missed out on the recent surge of gender equality. It’s a sad fact of our industry that women seem to shy away from the IT sector, as the majority of roles are still held by males.

Given this endemic disparity between high-ranking men and women in our industry, how are we to set about addressing the balance of the sexes when it comes to strengthening the IT sector and becoming more inclusive, balanced and diverse with our workforce? While women are welcomed in to the ranks of software development, IT project management, implementation and sales, it appears that there is an outdated view of industry which renders it less appealing for high-achieving women than many others.

Last year, the Equality and Diversity act was revised and re-launched, providing a more simplified set of legislation governing equality across all industries and sectors. One of the key changes in the act was to make the policy of each organization (public or private) much more accessible to potential employees and customers. Along with this enhanced visibility, the act also required that each firm displayed a workable, visible statement of intent and methodology for the promotion of diversity, inclusive and eradication of discrimination.

In an industry still dominated be males, this change will be welcomed by leaders of key IT firms across the UK. The Equality Duty aspect of the act (section 149) requires firms to ascertain exactly how their decision making will affect both employees and customers, providing a firm framework for acting upon, and eradicating, harassment, racism, sexism or other forms of negative discrimination.

It’s important for all firms engaged across the IT industry to fully understand the implications and practical requirements of the new act. Only through undertaking Equality and Diversity training can employers assess their existing procedures, and modify them in line with the regulations amended through the act. The first point in any step-change for the industry must come through a positive mind-set, informed by a working knowledge of what needs to be addressed, and how we can change the sector for the better.

By calling upon companies to offer an enforceable equality methodology which includes specific measures to assess compliance, the act has highlighted the need across many firms to address issues such as the ration of women to men in employment terms, and define their zero-tolerance approach to sexism of any form. This legislation calling for greater visibility will support the IT sector to not just hold a positive view of equality, but also to physically outline their approach and actions, in visibly demonstrable ways.

This is great news for our industry. As firms become more visible and accessible with their protocol for promotion of equality, so the long-standing prejudices and perceived exclusion of women will be broken down, evaluated, and proven to be a myth. More women will seek to swell the ranks of our IT high-achievers, as firms prove their positive approach to recruitment, promotion and progression, and the changes to legislation could go a long way to removing pre-conceived notions of gender disparity.