It was recently estimated by PwC economists that if the gender gap in terms of both representation and pay were to close by just 10%, South Africa could achieve an additional 3.2% in GDP growth, and a 6.5% reduction in the number of unemployed job seekers. With figures like these, it is clear that it is vital that more work be done in respect of overcoming the gender gap.

The idea of the gender gap comes into strong focus in the IT and analytics space, where there is a clear shortage of women studying or practising data science. Leanne Gordge, strategic account executive at SAS, indicates that the real question is how does the industry attract more women?

"Realistically, I don't think the main challenge is any genuine sexist bias. Most employers would actually prefer to even the disparity by bringing more women on board. However, the real problem seems to lie in the fact that there are not enough women with a background in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects to actually move into these fields," she says.

"In fact, a lack of STEM qualifications is a challenge across both sexes, which does potentially make a case for these subjects to be made compulsory in schools. At the same time, we need to recognise that many women in SA are raised in families where women are still expected to follow the stereotyped roles of their gender, such as raising families and being home-makers. I don't believe it is an aptitude or ability issue; it is more an issue of cultural tradition and expectation. And sometimes being raised in such an environment becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – girls are pushed towards the traditional female role, so they don't bother with subjects like maths because this is a 'male subject', which leads to them ending up stuck in that traditional female role."

While this is an attitude that is slowly changing with the generations, adds Gordge, if we want to eliminate the gender gap, we need to expedite the process. One way to achieve this is for women to have visible role models in the business world. It is very important, she says, to have women to look up to who have achieved at the highest level, because if other women can see such success stories, they can more easily believe their own careers will be a success.

"On the other side of the coin, having successful women in senior positions also helps business decision-makers to realise the value of having women in such positions, due to the different approaches and attitudes they bring to the table. This is also a self-perpetuating cycle, in that the more we have female executives who are powerful and are achieving results, the more it demonstrates the value women bring to business and proves that women are just as, if not more, capable as men."

When it comes to senior positions, she continues, a team that consists of both men and women can lead to better business outcomes than others. Many studies have highlighted differences in the psychological orientation of men and women, and it is widely accepted that men and women process and respond to information differently. According to these studies, men tend to be more agentic and individualistic, whereas women adopt a more communal outlook, with an emphasis on interpersonal relationships, affiliation and attachment to others.

"For example, women tend to be both empathetic and emotionally supportive, and more likely to give someone the gracious 'out' in a heated discussion or argument, which enables everyone to keep their egos intact. Generally, men tend to approach such a situation without considering the value of the gracious "out" because they are more likely to be 100% focused on achieving their desired outcome in the shortest possible time, which can result in a 'my way or the highway' stance, which inevitably leads to someone ending up with a bruised ego – clearly not good for the team as a whole."

So, it is not about right and wrong, better or worse, stronger or weaker but more about how an integrated team that combines the different ways men and women process information and situations helps the team arrive at the best outcome.

"And this is why it is critical to get more women involved in the data science field, as in this arena, it is all about application at the end of the day, and it would thus be ideal to have people who have a different way of doing things to the norm."

She adds that with the advent of deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI), these technologies are now beginning to eliminate a lot of the data science tasks that usually fell to analysts. The need now is for people who can interpret the data, articulate what it means and apply actions based on these insights.

"When it comes to interpreting and analysing the information, it is critical to have a team involved that brings different elements and skills to the table. Increasing the number of women in the field of data science will thus improve the overall quality of the analysis and interpretation of data, and this can only be a good thing for the sector as a whole," concludes Gordge.