Technology companies have made strides to create more diverse work environments and women have less barriers to advancement than they did a decade a ago, according to a survey conducted earlier this month by Catalyst, a New York-based nonprofit research company. 

Despite those advances though, according to the study women in technology-related fields still have some difficulty advancing because of a lack of mentors and access to certain at-work networks. 

Dr. Heather Foust-Cummings, a research director at Catalyst and author of the study, explains that while tech companies have made some good progress in recent decades, women in high tech companies lagged behind their peers (technical men and non-technical women) on every measure of the study related to mentors and networking. 

Women do not perceive decision-making processes as fair because their voice is often not heard. Women also report a lack of access to mentors.  

"One of the things that we found in the data that was given by women, is that there is a real need for in person supervisory training," says Foust-Cummings. "Within tech companies, there is sort of an inside joke that supervisors may ascend through the technical ranks [without having managerial skills]. But if they are not given the tools that they need to be able to manage people well and involve others in decision making process, then they have to rely on what they've seen in their careers." 

Manager Stephanie Chiras,  who has worked at IBM for six and a half years, emphasizes the importance of mentors for advancing in the field.

She states that the mentoring opportunities at her company are more than adequate -- IBM offers classes about mentoring and work-life balance as well as other networking opportunities. 

"Mentors know you personally," says Chiras, who has her own mentor and also acts as a mentor for someone else.

"All their advice and guidance is personalized for me. The most important thing about mentoring is knowing goals, strengths for each person." 

She emphasizes that more technology companies need to realize that they must develop more hospitable atmospheres for women.  

"In years past, companies have looked at [providing mentoring and networking opportunities] as a nice thing to do to help women to succeed in the technology field," Chiras says. "I think now more than ever, it's not a choice anymore [to be more inclusive toward women]; it's a need to pull in the best and brightest. Pull them in and have them feel included… This is a call to action to companies to provide the tools, resources and development to recruit the best and the brightest, and that includes women."