'Indian women have positive outlook towards tech careers'

A majority of Indian women in a sample survey feel their gender positively impacts their ability to pursue a career in technology.

Booking.com, a travel e-commerce company, conducted a 'Women in Tech' research with an aim to provide a better understanding on the continuing gender diversity challenge in the technology sector and the perceptions, experiences and ambitions of women in India with respect to career opportunities in technology.

The research was conducted among women who work in tech and female students interested in pursuing a career in the industry and revealed that overall, Indian women have a positive outlook on technology careers.

The study -- based on an online survey from August 2 to September 6 -- was conducted among 6,898 respondents in UK (789), US (1149), France (746), Brazil (638), The Netherlands (267), Germany (795), China (650), Australia (582), India (747) and Spain (535).

As many as 90 per cent of Indian women believe their gender positively impacts their ability to pursue a career in technology, the highest across all markets surveyed, with 25 per cent citing that they believe job requirements in tech are a fit for women's natural skillsets.

Another 25 per cent felt that career opportunities in tech are advertised as much to women as to men. The presence of female decision makers in the industry is especially acknowledged by girls in high school, with 29 per cent of those surveyed citing this as a reason they had a positive outlook on careers in the industry.

Women in India are drawn to the tech industry for myriad reasons.

They consider it to be innovative (45 per cent), creative (45 per cent), exciting (32 per cent) and inspiring (32 per cent).

Early exposure to certain skills and subjects have influenced the career choices of 88 per cent of the women surveyed. They believe this early exposure plays a significant role in driving their professional choices.

The research also highlights that, Indian women are much more likely to follow in the career footsteps of their parents (64 per cent versus 40 per cent global average).

As for the reservations women have about the technology industry, more than four in five women say they face more challenges to enter (82 per cent), grow and succeed (83 per cent) in certain careers than men.

"Women are still vastly underrepresented in the tech sector. What our research now tells us is exactly where women experience the biggest barriers and where the opportunity to initiate change is," said Gillian Tans, CEO at Booking.com.

"The optimism and ambition that we see from women globally to be successful in a technology or IT field is inspiring, particularly among the younger generation, who see the potential for a career in tech to deliver against the high aspirations they hold for themselves," he added.-IANS