{"id":1061,"date":"2023-06-07T17:05:29","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T17:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/?p=1061"},"modified":"2023-06-12T15:52:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T15:52:38","slug":"breaking-barriers-for-women-in-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/2023\/06\/07\/breaking-barriers-for-women-in-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking barriers for women in IT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-df9632c3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/5890\/files\/2023\/06\/Women-in-IT-Dr.-Murthy--2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-df9632c3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>The founding members of OSU\u2019s Women in IT group were named the winners of the President\u2019s Commission on the Status of Women Community Builder Award. From left \u2013 Polly Harrell, Kristina Case, OSU President Dr. Jayathi Murthy, Dr. Weiwei Zhang, Marjorie McLagan &amp; Emily Longman<\/em>. <em>Not pictured: Chrysanthemum Hayes<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:66px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-df9632c3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-text-color has-primary-color\">Breaking barriers for women in IT<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:11px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-df9632c3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>By Rebekah Pike<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-df9632c3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-date has-small-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-07T17:05:29+00:00\">June 7, 2023<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-df9632c3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in systems thinking.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI really like having facts and doing assessment and analysis.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI fell into it accidentally because of where my passion was.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are three different responses that members of OSU\u2019s Women in IT team gave when asked how they found their way into the tech world. While all three of these women have found success and career opportunities at OSU, it hasn\u2019t always been an easy path. And the success they have found is especially remarkable when you consider one factor: their gender. Statistically speaking, women are outnumbered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cio.com\/article\/201905\/women-in-tech-statistics-the-hard-truths-of-an-uphill-battle.html\">nearly three to one<\/a> by their male peers in the tech industry and are much less likely to achieve management or leadership roles. In fact, the odds that a woman will even attempt to enter the field are low \u2013 as of 2021, only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cio.com\/article\/201905\/women-in-tech-statistics-the-hard-truths-of-an-uphill-battle.html\">18% of computer science undergraduate degrees<\/a> were earned by women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re only looking at the numbers and trends, the future for women in IT looks bleak. That\u2019s the future that OSU\u2019s Women in IT team is hoping to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-primary-color has-text-color\">It&#8217;s not just me<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>In the spring of 2022, the <a href=\"https:\/\/uit.oregonstate.edu\/\">University Information and Technology<\/a> Executive Team led by Chief Information Officer Andrea Ballinger nominated six women from OSU to attend a five-week EDUCAUSE series for central IT workers called <a href=\"https:\/\/events.educause.edu\/educause-institute\/leadership-series\/2022\/women-advance-technology\">Women Advance Technology<\/a>. The UIT Executive Team made their recommendation as part of a broader initiative called the IT Workforce Development Plan, designed to develop and support IT staff at OSU. Throughout the series, the cohort had a chance to reflect on the challenges, obstacles and opportunities they had encountered in their careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the group continued to meet and talk after completing the EDUCAUSE series, they saw an opportunity to create a community of support and provide more resources for women working in IT roles at OSU. Because as they compared notes and shared their experiences, they realized that the barriers they\u2019d encountered weren\u2019t unique. It wasn\u2019t \u201cjust me.\u201d Other women were having parallel experiences, leading to self-doubt, burnout, retention issues and additional stress at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-primary-color has-text-color\">Finding their way to IT<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>All three of the women I spoke to for this story did not initially see a place for themselves in the IT world. They didn\u2019t go straight from high school to earning a computer science degree to landing an entry-level IT job. It was more of a winding path with multiple learning experiences along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was very much true for UIT Director of Academic Technologies Kristina Case. She initially entered OSU as a business major before switching gears to a liberal studies degree with a multimedia focus. After graduating, she worked in a variety of media roles before becoming director of video and internet operations with the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-10 at the time), which required a move to California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Working in college athletics, she was almost always the only woman in the room. But Case said this wasn\u2019t an unusual situation for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe video world, it\u2019s very male dominated. So, I didn\u2019t feel out of place,\u201d she said. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Case said her experience with the Pac-12 was largely positive. But her position required 90-hour work weeks, which weren\u2019t compatible with starting a family. Eventually, she found her way back to OSU, working her way up from coordinator of media services to director of academic technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Case said she participated in conversations at OSU about women in IT several years ago \u2013 right in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. Then-Interim Chief Information Officer Jon Dolan hosted a listening session on the topic. Case said it was an opportunity to start a meaningful dialogue about \u201cthe feelings that you feel internally, but you never verbalize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While she believes that the event was an important starting point, one thing about it gave her pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe odd thing was that it was hosted and led by a man,\u201d she said. Case was quick to acknowledge Dolan\u2019s efforts to draw awareness to the problem and appreciates his initiative. What bothered her was that none of the women working in IT had felt empowered to take that first step and advocate for themselves and each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u2018Why was there not a woman with the power to start something like that?\u2019\u201d she recalled thinking. \u201cIt was great that he was an ally and was attempting to do this, it was just \u2026 you start to kind of look and you\u2019re like, \u201cWait a minute \u2013 this is not right.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-primary-color has-text-color\">Building a resilient, grassroots community for women<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The Division of Finance and Administration IT Director of Business Architecture Polly Harrell also found her way into IT through a non-traditional path. One of her previous jobs was working as a business license specialist for a city government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI actually ran an IT project without knowing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was part of like, \u2018I want to make this process better. It\u2019s super clunky. We can make it better \u2013 more efficient. And I shouldn\u2019t have to do this manual, clicky work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That drive to streamline processes and leverage technology to improve outcomes eventually led to her current role in business architecture, a field that specializes in process mapping and analyzing data to improve business decisions. The unit that Harrell currently leads alongside three other directors is unusual in its gender representation. Out of 18 positions within DFA IT, 30% are currently held by women including 50% of the leadership roles. As a relatively new unit on campus, DFA IT leadership is striving to integrate diversity and inclusion into all facets of recruiting, retention and employee recognition. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrell said that she envisions the Women in IT group as a supportive community where women can share their experiences and learn to advocate for themselves and each other in a field where it has been difficult to make inroads. She also hopes to help women advance their careers and provide a place where they can ask for feedback and position themselves for promotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than waiting for someone more senior to lead the effort, the original group of EDUCAUSE attendees decided to organize the group themselves with a bottom-up structure that Harrell said is completely by design. The goal is to build a resilient, self-sustaining organization that can support OSU students and staff for years to come.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think it was clear to us &#8211; we need this to be a grassroots effort, we need to take ownership and feel empowered to do this for ourselves,\u201d Harrell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-primary-color has-text-color\">Getting more girls and young women into tech<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Emily Longman, Lead Security Analyst at the Security Operations Center, said she never saw herself choosing a tech career growing up. IT, she said, was what her dad did. However, her father\u2019s career did impact how she interacted with technology as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI grew up using a Linux desktop, which I realize now meeting everyone else in the world, that\u2019s weird,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She initially chose to study another STEM field\u2013 microbiology. But as she entered her junior year at OSU, she realized that her degree choice wasn\u2019t a great fit. After taking a gap year and experimenting with coding, she reentered college as a computer science major and started working in OSU\u2019s Security Operations Center after graduating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been here in the SOC part and full time for eight years and I have never had another woman in the SOC,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I run all our student hiring. We try really hard to recruit folks. The program is getting bigger, so there\u2019s more interest and there\u2019s more students applying now across OSU, so we are seeing more female applicants. We\u2019ve just yet to find one who is the right fit. And I\u2019m ready for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Longman believes that robust K-12 outreach programs are key to boosting the number of women entering the IT field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really passionate about doing K-12 outreach \u2026 cybersecurity camps,\u201d she said. \u201cVolunteering at those and being like, \u2018Hey! Security is cool! You get to stop hackers and you get to kinda be a hacker. It\u2019s awesome!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Longman said that OSU has made progress in engaging K-12 students and offers a summer Cyber Camp for high schoolers, but with limited student registrations per camp, there are still opportunities for growth. OSU is offering <a href=\"https:\/\/stemacademy.oregonstate.edu\/high-school-summer-camps\">Cyber Camp<\/a> during summer 2023 free of charge, which reduces barriers for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-primary-color has-text-color\">If more women enter IT \u2013 will they stay?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrell and Longman both expressed concern about the retention rate of women in technical roles. Longman said that the initial EDUCAUSE cohort had discussed their frustration with being expected to take on administrative tasks that their male peers didn\u2019t volunteer for. All three women I spoke to mentioned notetaking during meetings as one example of a task they were repeatedly assigned. Another shared experience was having their ideas or proposals ignored or overlooked only to gain acceptance once a male colleague suggested the same thing. Case said she had personally watched this dynamic play out in meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Longman worries that burnout is driving some women out of the IT field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat concerns me and I don\u2019t know the answers, but it seems like the burnout rates of women in IT are actually higher than men,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe because it\u2019s just a smaller sample size, but that\u2019s concerning. Is it the culture? What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The available research supports Longman\u2019s hypothesis. A 2019 report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accenture.com\/us-en\">Accenture<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/girlswhocode.com\/\">Girls Who Code<\/a> found that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accenture.com\/_acnmedia\/PDF-134\/Accenture-A4-GWC-Report-Final1.pdf\">half of young women who enter tech careers drop out by age 35<\/a>. When researchers asked the survey respondents why they planned to leave their jobs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accenture.com\/_acnmedia\/PDF-134\/Accenture-A4-GWC-Report-Final1.pdf\">the number one reason cited was poor company culture.<\/a> Other reasons included dissatisfaction with the job and a lack of diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrell related a story where she recently attended an OSU mentorship program, which was intended to train future IT leadership. As the meeting began, she noticed that she was the only woman in the room along with 13 men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd I\u2019m like, \u2018Well, this isn\u2019t a hopeful sight, if I\u2019m the only female here \u2026 getting the tools and the skills needed to be a manager,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then another female colleague showed up and I felt this immediate \u2026\u201d she paused and took a deep breath. \u201cLike almost tension relief. And I don\u2019t think male counterparts realize that that\u2019s a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-primary-color has-text-color\">Connecting employees, student workers and allies<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating a sense of belonging and community is one way that the Women in IT group hopes to improve retention rates and combat the burnout problem. They plan to open the group to all female-identifying employees working in IT as well as student workers and non-female allies. Connecting women at the undergraduate level to a strong support network is one way to ensure that female students feel they belong in the IT field and provide opportunities for mentorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, community response to the group has been positive. The Women in IT Teams channel (open to IT employees of any gender) has more than 400 members. The founding members of the group were <a href=\"https:\/\/today.oregonstate.edu\/story\/breaking-barriers-awards-celebrate-osu-community-members-who-advance-gender-equity\">recently recognized<\/a> by the <a href=\"https:\/\/leadership.oregonstate.edu\/pcosw\">President\u2019s Commission on the Status of Women<\/a> as winners of the Community Builder Award. PCOSW hosts the annual <a href=\"https:\/\/leadership.oregonstate.edu\/pcosw\/events\/breakingbarriers\">Breaking Barriers awards banquet<\/a> to honor individuals and groups who have worked to advance gender equity at OSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was cool to see that the community cares that much about what we are doing and that OSU really does care about fostering a community of belonging and diversity and inclusion and that\u2019s not just something on a mission statement,\u201d Longman said. \u201cIt\u2019s something we are actually doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:14px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rebekah Pike is a communication specialist with the Division of Finance &amp; Administration\u2019s IT unit. She works alongside stakeholders across the university to highlight the collaborative partnerships that support campus operations and further the mission of OSU.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the spring of 2022, the University Information and Technology Executive Team led by Chief Information Officer Andrea Ballinger nominated six women from OSU to attend a five-week EDUCAUSE series for central IT workers called Women Advance Technology. Throughout the series, the cohort had a chance to reflect on the challenges, obstacles and opportunities they had encountered in their careers.<\/p>\n<p>As they continued to meet, they saw an opportunity to create a community of support and provide more resources for women working in IT roles at OSU. Because as they compared notes and shared their experiences, they realized that the barriers they\u2019d encountered weren\u2019t unique. It wasn\u2019t \u201cjust me.\u201d Other women were having parallel experiences, leading to self-doubt, burnout, retention issues and additional stress at work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7673,"featured_media":1072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"wp-custom-template-feature-with-header","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,33,12],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-1061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-it-spotlight","category-strategic","tag-women-in-it"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1061"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1085,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions\/1085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}