In a surprising shift from the norm, women are now the most popular tech hires.
The tech industry added 39,900 jobs between January and September, and 60% of those positions went to women, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In every other year of the past decade, men claimed a greater share of new tech jobs, according to an analysis conducted by technology and engineering career hub Dice.
It's a small step but also a promising sign for women in tech. On the whole, female employees still hold just 31% of jobs in the industry, a figure that has changed little over the last 10 years. Women also continue to lag men in compensation. In computer and information systems roles, for example, women working full time make only about 80 cents for every dollar earned by men.
While it's unclear exactly why we're seeing this shift, a possible factor is the new wave of female tech stars — Yahoo CEO and ex-Googler Marissa Mayer, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, to name a few. Mayer has previously expressed frustration with the lack of women in computer science, saying she'd like to see the industry be "more encouraging and open to having women contribute to software in more significant numbers."
Dice President Shravan Goli believes the spike in tech jobs going to women is due to more active hiring by companies, regardless of gender. Furthermore, Goli says men and women alike are more interested in tech today than in prior years, and tend to be aware from a younger age that they can make a career in the industry.
Below, check out an infographic from Dice showing the change in tech jobs by gender over the past 10 years:
