Why More Women Should Consider a Career in Data Centers
Technology is one of the most exciting industries around, and it's only going to grow more important in the years to come. So why aren't more women choosing it as a career?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up only 26% of the workforce in computer and information technology occupations. And in the data center space, the numbers are even lower.
“Women an underrepresented force”
“Historically, data center design and operations teams have employed few women, and this hasn’t improved much since Uptime first started collecting information on gender demographics in our data center surveys in 2018.
More than three-quarters of operators (77%) report that they employ around 10% women or less, unchanged since 2018. Strikingly, one-fifth of respondents (20%) still do not employ any women at all in their design and operations teams, although this number is down from 26% in 2018 (see Image shown).”
Source: Uptime Insitute Journal, “Data center staffing — an ongoing struggle” 1 March 2023
There are a number of reasons for this gender gap. One is that women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Another is that the data center industry is often seen as a "male-dominated" field. And finally, some women may be intimidated by the technical nature of the work.
“But these are all just excuses. The truth is that there are many reasons why women should consider a career in data centers.”
For one thing, the data center industry is booming.
The demand for data center space is growing rapidly, as businesses of all sizes move their operations to a hybrid model between cloud and on-prem (ie storing data through an Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure (cloud) or in their own offices, on-premise). This means that there are plenty of job opportunities available at all skillset levels and the industry is facing a skills shortage crisis!
In addition, data center jobs are well-paying and offer excellent benefits. According to PayScale, the average salary for a data center technician is $61,190 per year. And many data center operators offer comprehensive benefits packages, including health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.
Finally, a career in data centers can be very rewarding. Data center professionals play a vital role in keeping the world connected. They are responsible for the design, construction, and operation of data centers, which house the servers and other equipment that powers our online lives. Without Data centers, there would be no digital world, no mobile phones, no TV, no NETFLIX! Can you imagine, we’d actually have to talk to one another Face to Face….like, what would I even say to my husband?
Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Office at Compass Data Centers
I recently met Nancy who shared her thoughts of this industry, skills women already have and are using at Compass to ‘rock it’. Watch the full` interview
