Less women choose to freelance
On Malt, the percentage ratio between women compared to men is significantly smaller.
- 34% in France
- 36% in Spain
- 23% in Germany
These figures are valued respectively when considering that on average the percentage of the female working population in general per country is less than that of men.
In France 68% of women between the age of 15 and 64 years are either employed on payroll or self-employed. In Germany the percentage rises to 75,8% when calculating women between the age of 20 and 64. Men in comparison value at 83.9%.
In Spain the numbers for both men and women between the age 16 and 65 drop dramatically due to the high unemployment rate calculating 53% of women versus 65% of men.
The digital sector is mostly male-dominated
In Europe today there are fewer women within the digital workforce than men, especially within the tech sector. Only 17% of ICT specialists are women. The same proportion for STEM graduates is 34%. In 2015, women represented only 21.5% of the digital workforce.
On Malt 31% of freelancers are women. When comparing the above figures we can recognise that women in freelancing are showing a stronger participation percentage in the digital workforce than those under payroll. Without a doubt although there is still room for improvement on both sides, especially considering the extreme imbalance within the tech & data industries.
The parallel between freelancers and business owners
Being a freelancer means establishing one’s status, being in charge of administration and managing customer relations, as well as running missions. In other words, it means being the head of your own company.
Thus, it is relevant to compare the percentage of women freelancers on Malt with the percentage of women creating their own business. According to a study by the European Comission the percentage of female self-employed workers within EU member states varies per country and lies around one third for Spain (32.9%), Germany (32.3%) and France (32.9%). The number of female start-up founders in Europe is only 14.8%.
Differences by profession*
From the analysis of this repartition, certain characteristics and trends have emerged and an analysis by profession is necessary. Some jobs show great disparities and impact the average, even if the gaps between women and men are decreasing. For these jobs on Malt, women represent:
- Tech & data: 8,5% of women in 2020 vs 6% in 2016
- Project managers & agile coaches: 30% of women in 2020 vs 23% in 2016
- Web & graphic design: 50% of women in 2020 vs 40% in 2016
- Picture & sound: 24% of women in 2020 vs 17% in 2016
- Communication: 67% of women in 2020 vs 57% in 2016
- Marketing: 32% of women in 2020 vs 32% in 2016
- Business consulting: 27% of women in 2020 vs 23% in 2016
Even if the changes are small, we see a progressive feminisation of all professions.
*These figures only concern the French market since our presence since 2016, 4 years representing for us a good period of time to observe these evolutions.
Equals in performance
Comparing the number of project proposals received with the number of missions completed, we noted that globally on Malt women have a slightly higher mission rate than men (66% for women, 64.9% for men). Hereby outlining, when it comes to completing missions, women are performing slightly stronger and more efficiently than their male counterparts. Women that are already represented in freelance digital jobs seem to do quite well. A fact, that we hope can be encouraging for more women to take the leap and succeed in the tech sector.
Still a long way to go
Even though we see progress in the representation of women in each profession, there is still a long way to go in order to achieve equal participation in the workforce. Interestingly enough countries like Finland, Sweden or Denmark, who repeatedly rank highest in Europe’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) also show a high representation of women in the digital workforce.
“There is a strong correlation between the WiD Index and the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). Member States who lead in digital competitiveness are also leaders in women in digital.”
Bringing more women into the EU digital sector would bring €9 billion annual GDP boost, an EU study shows. Admittedly, this is a selfish argument that has nothing to do with why women should have equal participation. But it shows how foolish it would be, to not facilitate it in every aspect of work and society
The digital transformation both empowers and needs women.
Some self reflection
Out of 193 employees at Malt, 51% of our team are women.In addition to the great diversity of profiles both in terms of their academic and professional backgrounds and in terms of international diversity in each team, this is one of many aspects that makes our team as strong as it is. Women hold a strong majority in almost every department at Malt. Although we still have some work to do in the Software & Data Science department as well as promoting women into management positions.