Increasing the representation of women in science and technology professions in advanced industry and high-tech is an important goal for two main reasons. From a social point of view, this contributes to reducing gender gaps in the labor market and wages and strengthening democracy and social cohesion; From an economic point of view, it is a question of assisting high-tech companies in extracting and increasing human capital, and for the economy as a whole, in expanding economic activity in the fields of science and high-tech and increasing the national product.
Despite the growing awareness of the issue, the employment rate of women in advanced industry and high-tech continues to be relatively low. According to the data of the Innovation Authority, the proportion of women employed in high-tech stands at only about one third of all employed. When it comes to the core technological positions, the numbers 1 drop even more, and stand at a rate ranging from 26% to 28% in the years 2012 to 2019. Overall, the representation rate of Arab women and Ethiopian women in high-tech is extremely low.
In the research literature, the phenomenon of the “leaky pipe” is mentioned, which describes how even women who start their careers in the fields of science and technology drop out at different points in their careers. The underrepresentation of women in technological frameworks begins already in the educational stages at a young age, and is expressed in the lower rate of girls and boys studying mathematics, computers and sciences in schools, when the representation decreases with the progress in the career stages: in military service in the high-tech and cyber fields; in academic studies in high-tech fields, and in integration into the labor market in high-tech industries and their representation in management ranks in these industries.
Another entrance door to the high-tech world is found in vocational training programs and extra-academic training programs. Studies conducted among graduates of short-term training programs (Bootcamp) in the USA found that these tracks allow access to knowledge and skills that enable entry into core positions in high-tech companies even for those who did not want, could not or missed the opportunity to acquire an academic education in the fields of engineering and computers. In this context, The studies indicated the potential of these tracks to be another alternative for entering high-tech positions especially for women.
Since the high-tech world was shaped from the beginning, both in Israel and around the world, by men and for men, the entry of women into this field of occupation requires adjustments based on gender awareness. It should be noted that these adjustments to promote more women in the field create profits for the entire industry. For example, adjustments for mothers help the whole household. Similarly, adaptations of heavy equipment to equipment carried on wheels – also help older men, the disabled, and the like. Based on this and in order to strengthen the professional training and retraining programs as a tool for increasing the accessibility of women to the high-tech industry, it must be ensured that the contents of the programs and the way they are advertised as well as the placement process in companies are conducted in a gender-appropriate manner.
The purpose of this document is to assist training bodies and high-tech companies in their efforts to increase the number of women who successfully complete high-tech training and professional conversion programs, and integrate into the core professions in the field.