Less Talk and More Action: The New Tune for Colombia’s Women in IT

Juanita Rodríguez Kattah is tired of the endless conversations about gender disparity in Colombia’s tech industry. She asserts, “Every time we approach International Day of Women in Science or International Women’s Day, there are conferences, panels, and discussions. We must move on from talking so much about how grave it is and start taking action.”

Back in 2019, Nearshore Americas reported on the scarcity of female leaders in Colombia’s IT sector. While women’s employment across the country was 41.2% before the pandemic—2% higher than it is today—the momentum for change has been building. By 2024, a pivotal shift occurred, laying the foundation for long-term transformation. The “Manifesto for the Closure of Gender Gaps and Enhancement of Female Participation through Technology Adoption,” a private-public initiative, became feasible as more women took up leadership positions across the sector.

Following this progress, over ten thousand women have participated in the Women Training Series program, offered by Colombia’s Ministry of IT in collaboration with WomenIt.Org, HackerGirls, and INNOVUS Business School. These initiatives signify an evolving landscape for female participation in technology.

Juanita, now the country manager for BITSO, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, previously held the presidency of the board at start-up incubator BICTIA and served as vice minister of digital transformation in the prior administration. As a prominent figure in Colombia’s tech scene, she identifies a critical hurdle: banking policies that disproportionately disadvantage women seeking investment, education, or entrepreneurship opportunities.

“It’s crazy to see how financial statistics, both in Colombia and worldwide, show that women have 30% less creditability, despite being significantly better than men as credit payers,” she notes. A Harvard study reinforces this, indicating that women are 17% more likely to repay loans on time. “It’s a bad business decision for banks, as well as for women and their families.”

In response, banking options such as BBVA Spark Colombia has prioritized funding for women-led startups, allocating 30% of its 2023 investment portfolio to female founders. However, only 12% of experts in the sector are female. Despite this, Juanita sees promise in blockchain and cryptocurrency markets. “Women’s entry into blockchain markets directly impacts their financial independence because it offers complete independence. For the first time, we’ve been able to invest while being completely free.”

Wiser Population 

She highlights that women constitute a third of the total user base in crypto, though they tend to invest at an older age than men. The average female investor is 30 years old, at least a decade older than male investors. “This reflects wiser investment choices from a more informed perspective,” she explains.

As vice minister, Juanita championed initiatives like Hacker Girls, which provided cybersecurity education for young women and facilitated connections with potential employers. “In the public sector, you have more guarantees of salary equality and programmatic impact. But power is limited due to the discontinuation of certain processes that need a long-term approach.”

Cybersecurity stands out as one of the fields where female participation is steadily growing. The OAS Cybersecurity Program and its annual Cyberwoman Challenge have played a crucial role in fostering female engagement in the sector. As a result, the Cybersecurity Workforce Report (CWR) indicates that women in the field are now more qualified than their male counterparts of the same age. “Forty percent of all women responding to the CWR are from Latin America. That means that these policies are especially strong here, leaving a mark and fostering a culture of participation. This will influence the number of women in leadership positions in the future.”

Ana María Gómez, COO of Xpert Group and a board member for MujeresTIC and Women in Leadership roles in Colombia, concurs with Juanita on the necessity of action. However, she also stresses the importance of continued dialogue. “Mentorship is essential. There are far more detractors than supporters when it comes to women striving for success in this field. It’s common for women to withdraw or stop taking risks due to intimidation.”

Her work as a keynote speaker emphasizes psychological tools that help women develop the resilience needed to build their careers. “These women-only spaces of self-recognition are also key as networking devices. We are creating communities of women who understand the experience and support each other.”

Both Juanita and Ana María acknowledge that AI presents new challenges for inclusion. But they see this as a call for action. Juanita provides an example: “Programs for education on Full Stack Development have become less useful now that AI is making this skill set below standard. But that only means we must push further on other fronts and make the bridge between qualification and hiring shorter.”

To that end, Ana María highlights the significance of objective measurement tools such as EQUIPares and Ranking Par Aequales. “Companies are realizing that statistics show improved performance when their boards are diverse. The fight we are leading through diversity committees across industries is driving concrete change in addressing inequality.”