November 8, 2024
This post is part of my 30in30 challenge, where I write 30 minutes every day for 30 working days. Due to my limited time for this challenge, the content will be only very lightly researched and edited. The idea is to just write. Find my voice, and find the courage to publish. To follow my curiosity wherever it may take me.
I've been leading Larabelles for over 4 years now. In these years, I have learned a lot about the issues women in tech might face, the importance of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in technology (and in every single industry that exists, to be quite frank), and the struggles in hiring for tech roles.
This is a huge topic that deserves a lot of attention, and it's not really something I can cover in depth in the next 30 minutes for this 30in30 challenge. Consider this post to be an introduction, a taster of sorts. I will come back to this topic in a future post.
But for now, you might wonder what I'm even talking about. What issues do women in tech face? Why is DEI important?
Let's see.
Women make up about half of the world's population. Yet, they are seriously underrepresented in the technology sector, which is scary. Only about 26% of the tech workforce are women. This number is even smaller if we consider ethnic minorities. Technology drives the world forward, and we need to make sure there is an equal representation in tech to make sure we are doing technology right and serving everyone well.
Because, historically, technology has not served everyone well.
According to the Harvard Business Review
Speech recognition has significant race and gender biases. As with facial recognition, web searches, and even soap dispensers, speech recognition is another form of AI that performs worse for women and non-white people.
Could the race and gender biases be caused by the lack of diversity in both the development teams and the training datasets? Perhaps! Food for thought!
One thing is clear: Tech is a male-dominated industry and it suffers from a significant gender imbalance.
Many studies show that diverse teams have access to more diverse talent and broader skill sets, are more likely to create more creative and innovative solutions and perform better overall. They also tend to have better financial results, making diverse teams more profitable.
It's in everyone's benefit to have a more diverse workforce. So why is the number of women in tech so low?
I've been contacted by many individuals and companies over the past 4 years. People are genuinely interested in increasing the diversity of their teams. However, one common issue seems to be that women don't even apply for jobs; most job applicants are male.
What can we do about it? How can we attract more diverse talent so that we all can reap the benefits?
First thing first. Generate a pipeline before you are even ready to hire. Start creating relationships with communities and individuals today. Don't wait until you have an open position. Get involved in those communities, sponsor them, support them. Become known as the person or company that is aware of the diversity and representation issue and wants to be a part of the solution.
When you are ready to start hiring, consider people from non-traditional backgrounds and people with gaps in employment. Life is hardly ever straightforward. Things happen. Gaps in resumes happen. To expect someone to have an uninterrupted timeline from the moment they leave school creates a simplified outlook on what a person's life might be like.
People get ill. People's people get ill. People burn out. People travel. People have children and responsibilities. People make mistakes. People change careers. All this leads to a more wholesome, more authentic human being, not someone to be avoided. Our experience isn't just about the number of years we've been doing the profession. Our experience is about our life and everything we have gone through up to this point. Everything is valuable and should be valued.
Be flexible and understanding about individual's circumstances, and give them space to make the work work for them. Do we really need to be in the office every day? Do we all need to start at 9 am and finish at 5 pm? Could it be that different people will benefit from different work schedules? Not everything has to be set in stone. Be open to changes, be willing to do things differently. Do good by people and people will do good by you.
Once you hire your candidates, look after them well. A staggering 76% of women in tech experienced gender discrimination and bias, according to the Women In Tech 2023 survey.
On top of that, women are paid less for the same position than their male colleagues. According to the same survey, there is a 16% pay gap between women and men colleagues.
Looking at these numbers and reading the studies and reports you should start getting a good idea of the issues women in tech might face. You might understand why I'm so passionate about this topic - I am a woman in tech, after all.
But I'm also a part of the solution. By talking about women in tech, by not accepting our current reality as the norm. It doesn't have to be this way and we can and will make a difference.
In a gentle way, you can shake the world. – Mahatma Gandhi