Ridiculously low numbers of female techies. Why?

February saw a record 2,536 attend the ENTECH Roadshow, of which just 4.5% were female. This spurred some commentary as to whether it represents female participation in entertainment technical roles – or whether ENTECH isn’t considered welcoming.

“It is a very obvious trend in the technical production community”, said Kat Grandquist, who is studying tech production at WAAPA.

“I don’t think the idea of participating in creative technical trades is accessible to most women. They are encouraged to be singers or actors but don’t get shown other creative opportunity’s available in the industry.”

“I see loads of women start out in technical fields and then many go off to other fields, often because they get sick of being surrounded by the blokey attitude”, says Bronwyn Pringle from Melbourne.

“It’s even there in the language we use. ‘Old Boys’ and ‘Soundgirls’. The bulk of women in technical areas are young. It’s also a problem across the world. I went to the trade show along side the Live Design Broadway Masterclass in New York and the situation was exactly the same.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?