In the 1980’s, home computers became widely available in the US. The marketing and cultural pressures were highly gendered, and the resulting disparity in exposure led to a reduced lack of awareness and experience just as the expectations for baseline familiarity with computers increased in both education and professions.
Judging by this data, tech in the US is still disproportionately male, and has an ethnic breakdown that is not representative of the US population overall. Per major company, the breakdown can differ widely. It would help to compare geographic data as well to control for regional population differences, but it suggests that individual comany policies, hiring cultures, or reputations can greatly affect employee demographics. Looking at the year-on-year trends, shifts also depend on the company– further indicating policy or other elements at play.
According to this article, efforts to improve diversity in a business require a top-down interest in and understanding of diversity as a goal. Recognition that diverse teams bring greater varieties of perspectives and potential problem-solving skills leads to more buy-in from leadership, leading to more tangible policy change and overall enthusiasm. In addition to positive correlates for diverse workplaces, a culture that is not inclusive risks new talent avoiding that workforce– and even the perceived homogeneity can lead to self-selection away from that workforce by potential talent. Widening of perspectives leads to better end products too, as a wider appeal of features or even basic user-end functionality can be better understood by the teams creating them.
Compared to the 1990’s study referenced in this article, how are reported (or otherwise collected) rates of parent encouragement/approval of tech interests by gender in the US today?