Investigation Needed into Sexism And Ageism in the ICT Industry
A preliminary study by Dr Amanda Lynn into the participation of women and men in the ICT Industry recommends urgent
investigation into sexism, ageism and their combined effects in the ICT Industry.
The study explored data supplied by Statistics New Zealand from the Household Labour Force Survey, 2017.
Only about a quarter of the workforce in ICT is female, they do the same work as their male peers and offer the same
value.
At 55 years of age, the numbers of both men and women in the ICT Industry falls sharply. The remaining women will be paid less than their male peers.
“We need to know who is being excluded from the industry, who leaves early and why, and why pay parity is lost. Sexism
doesn’t explain everything, ageism must also be explored” said Dr Lynn.
Completed this week, the preliminary study makes two recommendations.
That substantive investigation of ageism, sexism and their combined effects on both men and women in the ICT Industry be undertaken as soon as possible.
And that coherent policy, strategy and interventions be put in place to target equity of participation in the ICT
Industry, and pay parity for all participants across their life span.
The study follows more substantive analyses of New Zealand’s digital economy undertaken by Dr Lynn in 2017. It was found
that New Zealand must address equity between itself and other nations, and within New Zealand, to ensure fair access to
the benefits of the digital economy for all New Zealanders.
“New Zealand’s new Government is taking digital inclusion very seriously, wants to see real change by 2020, and is
assembling a Ministerial Advisory Group to provide expert guidance” said Dr Lynn.
The Hon. Clare Curran (Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, and Government Digital Services)
stated, at a December Forum on digital inclusion, that “Our goal is that no one is left behind.”
Dr Lynn says, “There are women in every ethnic and socio-economic group, and every person ages. New Zealanders can expect to live 87
years. If they are ejected at 55 from the high wage economy, or underpaid despite being as productive as everyone else,
more than 30 years of dependency on the public purse could ensue.”
“Yet if everyone has equal chance to participate, and equal reward, no one will lose. International studies show that the
whole economy will grow as equity grows.”
-ENDS –