Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

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Monday (March 8) will be International Women's Day. Women have been underrepresented in IT workplaces and professions for decades, but quite a few individuals and organizations have been working to foster change in that regard. In honor of the pioneering professionals of 2021, here's a look exclusively at the women who responded to our most recent Salary Survey.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for women who responded to the Salary Survey:‍

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $111,100
Median Annual Salary: $109,720
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 11.6 percent
Very Satisfied: 26 percent
Satisfied: 42 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 17.1 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 3.3 percent‍

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $57,760
Median Annual Salary: $59,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 5.9 percent
Very Satisfied: 8.8 percent
Satisfied: 47.1 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 27.9 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 10.3 percent

Women accounted for roughly 10 percent of all participants in the 2021 Salary Survey. The largest single body of women in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (73 percent of those surveyed), but we did hear from female certified IT professionals in 24 other countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.

Based on our survey data, it would seem that IT-certified women are fairly evenly divided between youth and career maturity. There are only 2 percent of respondents younger than 25 (all between the ages of 19 and 24), but roughly 45 percent of respondents are either between the ages 25 and 34 (23.3 percent) or between the ages of 35 and 44 (22.1 percent). That leaves just about 52 percent of respondents either between the ages of 45 and 54 (30.1 percent), between the ages of 55 and 64, (20.9 percent), between the ages of 65 and 74 (1.2 percent), or older than 75 (0.4 percent).

Roughly 95 percent of women who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most female certified IT professionals is either a bachelor's degree (45.7 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (37.8 percent), associate's degree (3.6 percent), professional degree (3.2 percent), or doctorate (3.7 percent). Most of the remaining survey respondents either exited the realm of formal education after completing high school (2.4 percent of those surveyed) or completed some level of post-high school technical education (2.8 percent), with a tiny sliver who are currently in school (0.8 percent).

A solid 91.9 percent of women who responded to the survey are employed full-time, with 4.4 percent holding part-time jobs, and 2.2 percent presently out of work. That leaves 1.5 percent who are students. Among those who have full-time jobs, most have either a standard 40-hour work week (37 percent of respondents) or put in between 41 and 50 hours per week (44.2 percent). The outliers are the 10.4 percent of those surveyed who put in more than 50 hours per week and the 8.4 percent who work between 31 and 39 hours per week.

When we ran these numbers last year, 78 percent of female certified IT professionals were spending most of those hours in a traditional workplace. Doubtless as a result of COVID-19, that flipped dramatically this time around, with 72 percent of female survey respondents spending their entire work schedule at home, working from home either more than 40 hours per week (41.8 percent of respondents) or 40 hours per week (31.3 percent). That leaves a bit less than one-third of those surveyed who work from home either between 31 and 39 hours per week (7.2 percent of respondents), between 21 and 30 hours per week (3.2 percent), between 10 and 20 hours per week (5.6 percent), or fewer than 10 hours per week (10.9 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of women who participated in the survey are employed at the senior specialist level (33.6 percent of respondents). The rest, in descending order, are either managers (19.2 percent of those surveyed), specialists (14.4 percent), rank-and-file employees (17.7 percent), directors (6.2 percent), senior managers (5.2 percent), or executives (3.7 percent).

A notable 38.5 percent of female certified IT professionals who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (18.8 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (18.5 percent), between 6 and 8 years (11.8 percent),or between 9 and 10 years (12.5 percent).

Finally, here's the view of women on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:‍

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 53.5 percent
Several times a week: 26.2 percent
Several times a month: 8.9 percent
Occasionally: 8.5 percent
Rarely: 2.9 percent‍

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 38 percent
Agree: 42.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.9 percent
Disagree: 2.6 percent
Strongly Disagree: 0.7 percent‍

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 31.7 percent
Agree: 39.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 23 percent
Disagree: 4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.5 percent‍

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 27.8 percent
Agree: 42.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 23.2 percent
Disagree: 4.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.8 percent‍

PAST DEEP FOCUS FEATURES ON WOMEN‍

2020

2019

2018

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