Information technology is still predominantly male today, according to the Association of Austrian Software Industry, VÖSI, the proportion of women in the entire IT sector is only around 18%. Just under a quarter of companies are taking action to attract more women to IT jobs.
Being a woman and IT have been closely linked for more than a century: It was female programming pioneers and not their male colleagues who were mainly found among the first programmers. Grace Hopper, for example, was one of the pioneers of computer science, working with the first computer, the Mark I, at Harvard. She developed the first programming language that worked with colloquial words.
A year ago, EBCONT women founded the Women@EBCONT initiative: with events, keynote speeches and partnerships for colleagues from all departments and locations.
Since 2021 we have also been partner and sponsor of https://thenewitgirls.com, a team of industry experts led by the two founders Astrid Wieland and Doris Schlaffer, which connects women in the IT industry across job titles. The #ThenewITgirls give women of different origins, companies and professional fields the opportunity not only to network in regular meetups, but also a stage to present themselves. That’s what we support, too!
We regularly invite inspiring speakers to our Women@EBCONT Breakfasts to tell us how they would like to make a difference or what they have already achieved. Such as Verena Eugster, inventor and founder of https://female-future.com, the largest community for women in Austria, dealing with job opportunities, the future, innovation and careers. At the last Female Future Festival 2021 Vienna, 12 EBCONT women prominently represented our company.
Or Katharina Krombholz – tenure-track faculty member at CISPA in Saarbrücken and head of the Usable Security Group – who excelled with her “Why I love informatics” and Maren Wölfl, http://www.msolution.at, who gave motivating and helpful tips on the topics of women in business, integrity, courage & big thinking.
Another internal Women@EBCONT initiative is also in the starting blocks: EBCONT Lunch & Learn for all women in EBCONT. We plan to have impulses, Q&As or just an inspiring lunch together.
Johannes Litschauer, Managing Director of EBCONT, takes a clear position and is confident: “I am pleased that we are sending such a strong female signal both internally and externally. We currently have a 12% share of women here at EBCONT, but in IT sales in particular we are intensively looking for women who want to come on board with us.”