people young industry better suited research still

Is the IT industry still dominated by men?Research shows young people think the IT industry is better suited to menNewsdesk News, Friday 05 February 2016 3,602 ViewsAccording to a study by O2, youngsters still view the IT industry as beingbetter suited to men rather than women.Research showed that 47% of people aged between 11 and 18 think the techsector is more suitable for men, while almost half of children aged four to 10said men are better suited to become engineers. More than half believed girlswere more suited to be nurses, nannies or hairdressers.More than a quarter of young people also said the position of UK primeminister was better suited to a man.O2’s HR director and a female board member of the company, Ann Pickering, saidat various points throughout the research: “It is worrying to see just howdeeply ingrained gender stereotypes still are, with many young people stillimpacted by the archaic ideals that may have held back their parents orgrandparents from rewarding roles. Working in the tech sector, I see theimpact that stereotyping has on our industry every day. But it’s not justmale-dominated industries which are struggling, boys are just as susceptibleto outdated ideas about which jobs are appropriate for them. A diverseworkforce is a prerequisite to doing good business. Whilst it’s right thatbusinesses focus on the number of women in their boardrooms, our researchshows the importance of focusing on the next generation too. Bettercollaboration between businesses, educators and parents is needed to level theplaying field once and for all on young people’s career aspirations.”Parents play a significant role in shaping their children’s career too, O2’sresearch found that 84% of young people ask their parents for career advice.More children want to hear from local businesses within their schools; tolearn about jobs in local industry sectors and to hear first-hand experiencefrom people within potential job roles. O2 has partnered with the charitySpeakers for Schools, to improve career communication between industry andyoung people which helps to give UK children access to talks by industryleaders.Founder of Speakers for Schools, Robert Peston, said: “These are shockingfindings. It is vital that gender should have no bearing on what our youngpeople choose to do in life.“Speakers for Schools, which has to date organised 2,500 free talks in stateschools, aims in part to help and encourage students to fulfill theirpotential, whatever their sex, whatever their background.”Join Over 40,000 Recruiters. Get our latest articles weekly, all FREE – SENDME ARTICLESRecruiters love this COMPLETE set of Accredited Recruitment & HR Training –View Training Brochure