Zurich – The More Women in Tech initiative by the Canton of Zurich, ICT Vocational Training Switzerland, digitalswitzerland and taskforce4women shows how women can be inspired to take up ICT professions. As a neuromarketing study by Zutt & Partner shows, some misunderstandings need to be eliminated.
An initiative called More Women in Tech aims to help increase the proportion of women in ICT professions. The Offices for Economy and Labor of the Canton of Zurich, ICT Vocational Training Switzerland, digitalswitzerland and taskforce4women have joined forces for this purpose. "The initiative aims to strengthen equality, promote innovation through greater diversity and reduce the shortage of skilled workers in ICT," commented Carmen Walker Späh, Director of Economic Affairs, in a press release.
Women are still strongly underrepresented in ICT professions with a share of around 17 percent. And this is despite the fact that the corresponding job profiles correspond pretty much exactly to how women in the career choice phase and potential career changers imagine their desired profession. As a study by the neuromarketing company Zutt & Partner also shows, this in turn is congruent with how women who already work in ICT professions describe their activities: as versatile, creative and flexible. Nevertheless, women in the career choice phase have a much less attractive image of the occupational field: more technically oriented and knowledge-based.
More Women in Tech wants to counteract this with concrete measures based on the results of the study. These relate, for example, to the use of "correct" emotional codes in communication, the use of influencers and targeted trial offers. A toolbox with the collected findings will be made available to interested stakeholders and workshops will be held to work on implementation. ICT Vocational Training is launching a campaign on May 23 based on the results of the study. It is scheduled to run until at least 2026. ce/mm