Why IT leaders need to give their support to recruiters looking to even the numbers

Having senior executives throw their weight behind equity and inclusion efforts can really move the needle, writes Catherine Larroche, Practise Director, Customer Science.

Historically, the IT sector has been male dominated and, until quite recently, extremely so.

Women currently make up 30 per cent of the country's technology workforce, according to 2025 research from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In the wider professional workforce, that figure sits at 44 per cent.

Efforts to address this imbalance in the IT sphere can deliver significant benefits for women at an individual level – RMIT's research suggests segueing into the sector can result in an average wage boost of 31 per cent – and it's good for the organisations that employ them too. 

The argument that having a team comprised of individuals from diverse backgrounds and of all genders gives rise to improved business performance, higher profitability and increased innovation has been well and truly made out.

Moreover, balancing the gender scales can potentially deliver a much broader economic benefit.

'Attracting more women into technology roles would not only improve the diversity of the sector but importantly help to solve Australia's technology skills crisis. This is good for women, good for business, and good for Australia's economy more broadly', RMIT's report notes.

Getting the gains from greater gender diversity

But, while businesses and the local economy have much to gain from gender parity, achieving it isn't as simple as declaring an intention to employ more women and hoping enough suitable candidates will happen along.

Rather, it takes a concerted effort from hiring personnel to source, secure and retain high calibre female talent. 

In my role as shared resources business manager at customer experience and digital transformation consultancy Customer Science, that's what I've strived to do since I joined the organisation in 2022.   

When I came on board, the company was a highly successful start-up in fast growth mode, with a workforce of 20 – 14 males and six females. In the intervening four years, our headcount has more than doubled. Today, the company employs 65 people across its four practice areas and some 40 per cent of those employees are women.

Giving hiring managers the support they need to move forward  

Evening the scales in such a short time frame is an achievement of which I'm extremely proud. 

Having worked as a professional recruiter in the IT sector since 2008, I know firsthand how difficult such change can be to effect.

In Customer Science's case, it would not have been possible without the wholehearted endorsement of a leader who was committed to creating opportunities for high calibre women to make their mark, in our organisation and across the gamut of successful businesses we support.

Customer Science founder Todd Gorsuch has backed my efforts to open up the field to more women from non-traditional backgrounds, whose transferable experience is helping Customer Science's clients flourish in a business landscape that's being rapidly transformed by digital technologies and AI.

That some of our successful hires during the past four years have been women aged over 50 – a cohort that, unfortunately, can find itself subject to hidden but very real hiring bias – is an additional gain.

Creating an environment where women can thrive

But giving a hiring manager the green light to bring more women into an organisation is only half the answer to the question of how to even up the IT industry's unbalanced gender scales.

Creating a workplace where they feel safe and supported, and where their efforts and achievements are recognised and rewarded, is the other half.

Neglect to do so and there's a high chance your hard found female hires will all too quickly begin exploring their options with organisations where the culture is welcoming and inclusive.

Again, that's something that starts from the top – from leaders who walk the walk when it comes to treating women equally and respectfully. 

As we prepare to celebrate International Women's Day 2026, I look forward to seeing more IT leaders giving women the opportunity to join vibrant, successful enterprises where they'll be challenged, supported and valued. Businesses and the economy have much to gain from their inclusion in this hyper-dynamic sector.