Family, flexibility and the future of IT

My daughter was born on International Women's Day – a fact that resonates more deeply with each passing year. As she approaches her eighth birthday, I find myself thinking more about the world in which she's growing up and the opportunities that will be available to her. Reflecting on my own professional journey, I can see just how much progress has been made – and how much still lies ahead. 

I stumbled into the world of IT in 2012 as a fresh communications graduate recently returned from London. At that time women were represented in the industry; however, were often the minority, particularly in leadership and technical roles. Walking into meetings where men significantly outnumbered women was the norm and leadership teams were largely male-dominated. 

Fast-forward 13 years, and it's tempting to follow up with a generalised sweeping statement about how drastically the industry has evolved, how glass ceilings have been shattered and every IT workplace has equal gender representation: however, this is still not the case. Leadership representation in particular remains limited, shown by women holding only 9% of CEO positions across ASX 300 companies, and 29% of executive leadership roles (CEW Senior Executive Census 2023). 

While true gender balance is still a work in progress, there is no denying a shift is underway. Remote work, hybrid arrangements and improved parental leave policies have helped remove some of the barriers that once made it difficult to pursue and retain a career in IT – particularly for women. 

It's not only a shift in thinking that's making workplace flexibility possible, it's the technology supporting it. Cloud computing, virtualisation and automation have changed the way people work, allowing employees to access necessary workplace tools from anywhere instead of being restricted to a fixed workspace. With secure networking and remote access, collaboration can happen just as easily outside the office as within it. 

There has also been a significant cultural shift in how parenting responsibilities are shared. Flexible work arrangements are making it easier for partners to take on more active caregiving roles, creating a more balanced dynamic at home and in turn, opening up greater career opportunities for women. It's becoming increasingly common for men to take time off for childcare, attend school events and make use of paternity leave. This shift isn't just good for women, it strengthens the entire family unit and helps normalise workplace policies that support all parents. 

When women see others in leadership, technical, and decision-making roles, it reinforces the idea that they belong in the industry and can aspire to the same levels of success. My first two meetings after recently returning from maternity leave were with women in senior roles, both of whom were balancing part-time hours in a hybrid setup to accommodate their young families. To observe this ten, or even five years' ago would have been rare – or at least, not so openly acknowledged. Seeing it firsthand reassures me that flexible career paths at a senior level aren't just theoretical but are actively being embraced, making it easier to see a path forward for myself. 

I'll admit, in the early stages of my career I found myself envying women who I perceived got to 'leave early' to pick up a sick child. Ironically, in the midst of writing this I too got the call, and spent the next 40 minutes rushing to daycare cursing both the traffic, and whoever thought serving curry to toddlers during a gastro outbreak was a good idea. What I didn't fully appreciate back then was the sheer effort it takes to balance work and family – the planning, the sacrifices, and the constant mental juggling. 

I can truly appreciate how flexible work has transformed opportunities for working parents, having now experienced it myself. The option to work remotely means that leaving the office early isn't an automatic setback, providing the ability to catch up on work at a later point. Reducing long commutes by working from home also creates more time for family commitments without compromising productivity. 

My personal experience has been that hybrid arrangements offer the best of both worlds - fostering in-person relationship building and collaboration, while still allowing the flexibility to work from home when needed. The fact that employees today can converse to the distant tones of Peppa Pig or politely ignore the laundry pile lurking behind a colleague on a video call (and let's face it, a blurred background can only hide so much) is both refreshing and encouraging. 

The IT industry still has work to do when it comes to true gender balance, however I'm optimistic things are heading in the right direction. As technology continues to evolve, so too will the way work is approached, opening up new possibilities for how and where work gets done. 

When my daughter blows out the candles on her birthday cake this year, I find myself hoping by the time she's stepping into her own career, that balancing work and family won't be another challenge to navigate – it will simply be the norm.