Have things been getting better for women in Jordan’s IT sector? While they are half of the graduates in ICT in Jordan, they only make up a third of the ICT employees in Jordan. However, these statistics seem to rise steadily with private sector contributions and education programs.
In the Middle East and North African region, Jordan is slowly making a name as the technology hub. Within its large employee pool of 16,000 people, only a third of them in this sector are women. What is more, women take up only a fifth of the leadership positions in this sector.
The Reality for Women In Jordan’s IT Sector
The Information and Technology Association of Jordan reports that female software developers make up about 27.6% of the field. The INT@J said these statistics through a statement on International Women’s Day.
In addition to this, women take up 13.2% of the posts available in technical support. In network systems, women fill up 12.3% of the working spots. These numbers seem more disheartening when considering that Jordan’s IT sector will grow extensively over the next few years.
Jordan’s ICT sector is constantly drawing in the youth of the population. Not surprisingly, this sector contributes to more than a tenth of the country’s GDP. Students of all genders thrive in universities and higher education based on ICT. So, where are the rest of the female graduates going?
What Happens To Female ICT Graduates?
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research survey investigated the gender gap as well. Around 50% of the 136 participating companies admit to a lack of vacancies. But a quarter of the companies report that the nature of the job “does not suit women,” and 1 in 14 of these companies do not want to hire women workers.
Tamara Abdel-Jaber who is a Co-Founder of Palma Consulting and Women in Business Arabia, remarked in an interview that “while employers cite many ‘excuses’ for not hiring females; the ICT sector, globally, is one of the leading industries that offer the flexibility that women are looking for.”
Tech Companies with Female Leadership Do Better
In Abdel-Jaber’s words, women’s skill sets–including attention to detail and remote working adaptability–are crucial to the ICT sector. Selling factors should motivate employers to give equally skilled women recruits some credit.
Women are highly skilled and qualified for the positions they occupy, according to Shahla Matar, the Managing Partner at Tanasuk Technologies. Women make up more than 50% of her company’s workforce. Her organization devised a mechanism in which credible coders and developers who operate remotely outsource some of their activities.
The mechanism helps overcome some of the socio-economic barriers women experience when entering the workforce. This, according to Matar, is because the women under her leadership like the privileges that positions in this industry afford; thus, they outperform.
Globitel Reaches For Solutions
Globitel joined the SAWI project by the Business and Professional Women’s Association to work towards improving the working conditions for women. Within Globitel, 21% of the employees are women.
SAWI representatives conducted a series of interviews with Globitel’s HR department to identify flaws in the company’s employment, promotion, and job retention rules. The goal is to find remedies that create an optimal working environment for women and protect their numerous workplace rights.
Following the initiatives of SAWI, Globitel reports taking steps to achieve this goal. The Vice President of Globitel, Fadi Qutaishat, says, “We’re working to leverage women’s focus on detail, high degree of emotional intelligence, which is surprisingly crucial in the technical side of ICT, and their ability to work remotely when needed.”