To gain a deeper understanding of gender diversity in the tech sector and how the industry in India is addressing its challenges, mthree recently surveyed Senior IT Decision Makers and 21–24-year-olds working within medium to large enterprises.
The research sheds light on barriers to inclusivity, tracks progress over the past year, and provides recommendations for creating more diverse workplaces.
Key Findings
Encouragement at an early age can help to boost gender diversity in tech careers:
- 35% of tech workers report that their chosen career stemmed from being encouraged while still at school – showing that it’s never too early to begin encouraging an interest in tech.
- An increasing number of women reported gaining such encouragement at school (56% - up from 50% in 2023’s report). Although, this is still lower than for their male counterparts (62%).
- Other influences to take up a career in tech include positive encouragement by friends and family, as well as having clear role models to follow:
- 46% inspired by prominent tech figures.
- 27% encourage by parents
- 25% encouraged by friends or peers.
The data shows the importance of early encouragement towards women to consider tech careers early. Increasing diversity will come from further interventions at the school and college levels. Also, providing more female role models to show the range of people who succeed in the sector.
Tech careers remain unattractive to many young women:
- The perception of tech as a male-dominated industry has increased from 36% in 2023 to 43% in 2024, indicating growing awareness of gender disparities.
- 40% of respondents believe their organisation has a gender pay gap problem (up from 27% in 2023).
- 39% believe that women are discriminated against in the tech workforce (up from 32% in 2023).
These upward trends reflect a persistent challenge in making tech careers appealing and inclusive for women. They also highlight that employers need to do more to get their commitment to improving diversity across to candidates.
Young professionals report mixed workplace experiences
- 45% of young professionals describe their work experiences as positive, consistent with 2023.
- However, 28% of respondents said that they had a mixed or negative experience of working in the tech sector so far (up from 25% in 2023)
- 32% of women continue to report feeling uncomfortable due to their gender, and 35% have considered leaving a role due to feeling unwelcome or unsupported.
- The most common reasons for dissatisfaction include:
- 49%: Bad organisational culture or leadership
- 45%: Lack of appreciation or rewards
- 41%: Lack of personal growth opportunities and mentorship
The lack of change in these areas suggests that workplace culture and support systems require significant attention.
Businesses acknowledge gender diversity challenges but there are signs of progress
- Awareness of gender diversity issues is widespread, with 67% of senior IT decision-makers acknowledging the issue. However, this has fallen since 2023 (down from 74%).
- 19% of organisations report that they have made progress on the issue of gender diversity (up from 12% in 2023).
- However, recruitment challenges persist across all levels:
- 72% struggle to hire female talent at some level, matching 2023 figures.
- Entry-level female talent remains the most challenging to hire (36% - although this is slightly lower than 39% in 2023).
While there is marginal year-on-year improvement, the scale of the issue highlights the need for more effective strategies to recruit and retain diverse talent.
What steps are businesses taking?
Some organisations are implementing initiatives to support diversity:
- 81% of businesses provide mentorship programmes for women, (although this has fallen 1% from 2023).
- 61% focus on internal development of female leaders rather than external recruitment, reflecting sustained efforts in this area (up from 57% in 2023).
- Flexible working policies saw slight progress, increasing from 49% in 2023 to 52% in 2024.
- 96% of businesses have seen improvements since employing these strategies.
However, significant gaps remain:
- 71% still do not use gender-diverse shortlists, 75% don’t use blind CV reviews.
- 61% don’t provide anti-bias training for hiring managers.
- 82% of employers are still only hiring female graduates from the ‘top’ universities, limiting the available talent to choose from.
These figures show that while some steps are being taken, the pace of change remains slow and there is a lack of widespread adoption on some basic requirements.
How mthree builds gender diverse tech teams
mthree helps businesses succeed by building job-ready and diverse teams with the most in-demand skills.
Our Alumni programme delivers custom trained emerging talent. Through our ‘Hire Train Deploy’ model, we place job ready graduates into your team for 12 to 24 months. Afterwards, you can convert them to your own employees at no extra cost. The vast majority continue their careers with our clients.
Get in touch to learn more.
