WOMEN IN TECH THE FACTS

FIG. 4.12 // Career Importance for Young Men and Women
% of 18–34 year olds saying being successful in a high-paying career
or profession is “one of the most important things” or “very interesting” in their lives.
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
80
70
60
66%
58% 56%
50 59%
40
30
20
10
0
1997
2010/2011
Young Men
Young Women
Rerendered from two Pew Research Center surveys from Dec. 6–19, 2011, and Jan. 14–27, 2010.
1997 data from Washington Post/Kaiser/Harvard Univ. survey, Aug. 14–Sep. 7, 1997. Patten & Parker, 2012.
Evidence suggests that employers significantly underestimate the importance of flexible
arrangements for employee retention and job satisfaction. While not specific to tech, this evidence
suggests an important disconnect.
One large-scale study found that while 86 percent of workers responded that
work-life balance and fulfillment are top career priorities, only 12 percent of
employers surveyed believed these to be crucial to hiring and retention
(Spherion, 2009).
Similar studies have shown that employers often underestimate the importance
of workplace flexibility. For example, another study found that 75 percent of employees ranked
workplace flexibility as the most important benefit employers offer, but only 50 percent of employers
thought that flexibility was that important to employees (CareerArc, 2015).
Likewise, employers often underestimate the increases in productivity that flexibility can bring.
For example, one study showed that despite high levels of initial skepticism, after seeing flexible work
policies in place for a few months, 98 percent of managers reported no negative impact and many reported
positive effects: 53 percent reported team interaction improved; 24 percent said customer service improved,
and 20 percent said productivity had improved (Cavanaugh, Sabatini Fraone, & Kacher, 2015).
48 WOMEN IN TECH: THE FACTS NCWIT // ncwit.org