While South Africa has no shortage of capable women leading in the technology sector, few of them hold formal IT qualifications, with many joining the industry with seemingly unrelated qualifications.
Often, we see women who hold senior positions in IT companies with degrees such as in business management, commerce, marketing, accounting, or other fields that at first glance seem unrelated. Yet, there are leaders such as Lauren Wortmann, who is NTT’s vice president of Applications for Middle East and Africa, Riana Cook – head of BizApps at NTT Data Middle East and Africa, and Lillian Barnard, who holds the position of chief of enterprise partners for Middle East and Africa at Microsoft.
They don’t necessarily have a Master’s in Information Technology Management or a BCom Honours in IT. What they do have is business savvy – and that is vital for leadership in any sector.
The dilemma comes in when we look at the skills, we, as a country, will need in the future. A recent Statistics South Africa study on Gender Disparities in Access to and Use of ICT in South Africa, 2016–2022, found that graduates from universities and Technikons in this field increased from 3.3% in 2016 to 4% in 2021. But most of those students were male. The study also noted that men with ICT qualifications were more likely to be employed than women with the same qualifications.
There’s no reason to think this has changed.
This gap begins long before women enter the workplace. From their earliest years in school, such as pre-primary, girls are not given enough exposure to what careers in IT actually look like. Even if coding or robotics is offered, many don’t realise that these subjects can lead to powerful, future-focused careers. What once seemed futuristic – such as flying cars or robot assistants – is becoming reality, but too few girls see themselves as part of that future.
Without proper guidance, the right subject choices, and clear information about the career paths available, girls are far less likely to choose IT when selecting their Grade 10 subjects or applying for university. Many don’t even know about the successful women already leading in the industry who could inspire them.
This is a societal failing. Younger female students are not provided with the building blocks to succeed in technology, even as demand for technical skills grows rapidly.
And this is happening just as we move deeper into an era of generative artificial intelligence, where technical skills will become increasingly important, especially for women who want to move up. These hard skills will matter in a fast-changing world where humans and machines work together more closely than ever.
But understanding how technology needs to adapt will mean little without the soft skills that the Fifth Industrial Revolution also demands. Qualities such as emotional intelligence, empathy, and a focus on wellbeing will be just as important.
Women already have the advantage here. They are known to be strong collaborators, good communicators, and problem-solvers. They also tend to be leaders who bring care and compassion into the workplace. Research by the American Psychological Association, together with findings from the SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, supports this.
The future of IT, and in many ways the future of South Africa, requires a diverse pipeline of talent with a multi-disciplinary approach. Our country cannot be globally competitive without the right skills, and it is those very skills that can help create jobs. The Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise has empirically proven this, finding that greater education levels are highly correlated with sustained growth while also noting that the tech sector, specifically, can improve economic development.
Women can have a clear advantage if they are given the right opportunities, guidance, and encouragement to study in this field. They already possess the complementary skills needed to lead in an age of IR 5.0 – but they need access to the technical foundations that will allow them to rise.
This challenge belongs to all of us, especially businesses that can help expose girls to IT careers and show them what is possible. Hackathons, mentorship programmes, and early interventions in schools can make the difference between a young woman opting out of IT and one who goes on to become a leader, adding business qualifications to her tertiary abilities.
Especially in the game-changing world of IT.
- Jacqui Muller, the only female UiPath Most Valued Professional in Africa, a PhD Candidate in Computer Science and IT, and also holds the title of industry coordinator at iTversity Belgium Campus.
