I have been in the field for about 5 years. In even this short time, I have witness many changes. When I started in the field, I would say the distribution of men to women was roughly 40% women, 60% men. Now, I think that number is below 10% women.

What I hear, and have experienced, is that the increasing pressure on IT has driven many women out. Products are expected to be delivered quicker and cheaper that before, which in my experience has equated to long hours, with fewer programmers and much more work for everyone. Additionally, the 24/7 world we live in puts many IT people on-call or on some sort of on-call rotation. There can also be a good deal of time required outside of work trying to keep up with current releases and new technology. The salaries seem to have gone down, for entry to mid level IT professionals. When you factor in the additional time spent on and off the job, the hourly rate in the is field has gone down tremendously. All of these factors equate to less time with loved ones and more time on the job for less pay.

With there being such a great dichotomy in the workplace, the problem perpetuates itself. In my last two positions, I have literally been one of five or so women in shops of hundreds of men. Even for a strong, confident personality as myself, this can sometimes be intimidating. I have only had 1 mid level woman manager in five years, and that was breif, before she too left the field. I have never personally been in a shop with a high-level woman manager.

I am a woman, and I love my job in IT. I did however, just get out of the production environment and into the development environment because I felt my quality of life was slipping with the amount of time I spent being on-call. I also have no children, and a fairly self sufficient husband. If I had to throw in PTA, soccer mom, and daycare, I might re-think my choices.