Study Finds Women in IT More Likely to Be Promoted

A new study has found that women in IT are more likely to be promoted than men in the field. The study, from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic institute, looked into how gender affects opportunities for promotions in the IT industry.

Over a five-year period of data collected from more than 7,000 employees at an IT firm in India, it was determined that women were promoted because they are considered more helpful and trustworthy as compared to men. But women were also considered because they are a lower-cost option due to gender pay disparities. 

If the promotion is determined by performance, men are more likely to be considered. Nishtha Langer, assistant professor of business analytics at Rensselaer, said of this finding, “... that speaks to a more subtle form of discrimination compared to more overt forms of discrimination.”

According to Langer, research has shown there are more opportunities for promotion when women enroll in the same training courses as men. She also noted that these findings extend to other STEM fields.

The Realist Woman’s take:

Such an interesting story. While on the one hand, women in IT are promoted for their helpfulness and reliability, they are also promoted for the fact that they can be paid less. Performance isn’t necessarily the key to women’s success in this field.

It’s sad and at the same time, the fact is that at the end of the day, they're being promoted. But it's almost like a half-assed step up because they aren't even being paid what they are worth. Women deserve better. They deserve to be paid more. They deserve to be promoted for performance. And they deserve equality.