Sexism is alive and well in tech apparently

New survey claims 'more than one in three' women IT staff have witness or experienced sexism

Now this is a controversial subject I know.

But apparently, and according to research from online accounting firm Crunch, a total of 71 per cent of female tech workers have labelled sexism as an industry problem.

The firm questioned 500 male and female tech workers (not sure what percentage of that was actually women) and found that 43 per cent of those women questioned have witnessed or experienced sexism in the workplace. This is compared with 29 per cent of the men polled who said they had witnessed or experienced sexism in the workplace.

A combined 51 per cent of female respondents said the sexism problem was 'moderate' or 'extreme', while 32 per cent of men said the issue was widespread.

But despite this, according to the research less than half (45 per cent) would report a sexist act to management.

Now one thing this research failed to do was to actually define what they class as 'sexism' or a 'sexist act'. Were we talking some smutty comments, or someone actually being taken advantage of blatently and either physically or verbally bullied because of their gender?

According to the dictionary sexism is described as "prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women on the basis of sex". But it happens against men too, in certain industries, and that shouldn't be forgotten.

On a personal note I have had loads of comments made in the past, mainly alcohol fuelled, at various events, and have just laughed them off - there was no harm meant at all. It was all a bit of fun, and I certainly give as good as I get.

However there was one occasion involving female members of the CRN team where lines were crossed, and those involved were lucky to get away with their actions.

People who know me, are aware of my views on 'Women in IT' - I have written a fair amount about it in the past, but I feel that by highlighting it as an issue, too much is made out of it.

Historically it has been men that went out to work and the women were expected to stay at home and raise the family. This was the mindset well into the 80s, so it is to be expected that many industries have more men than women working in them, particularly in senior positions.

But things are changing and they are changing at the right pace. Women are being promoted on merit and not because they are women.

I still think meddling governments introducing boardroom quotas will set the industry back, not move it forward.

And when talking about sexism, I think we need to be very careful indeed.

Of course when people are being sexist, they should be pulled up on it and dealt with accordingly depending on the severity of the case, but in many instances I truly think people need to develop a slightly thicker skin and more of a sense of humour.

I would welcome any thoughts on this.