Level the playing field
How to get more women in tech
When it comes to the STEM fields, a male-dominated industry comes to mind. As expected as it sounds, it is astonishing in the context that women earn slightly more than half of the science-related degrees. It is surprising that despite this, they make up less than 30% of the entire workforce employed in tech.
In addition to this, women in tech are not only under-represented but also underpaid.
So, where does the problem lie?
While it is true that there are more working women nowadays, it does not change the fact that there are fewer women working in the tech sector. If we dissect the situation, it is probably due to a prejudiced mindset that boys are better at science and math than girls. A woman finds it quite difficult to prove herself when society associates her with gender stereotypes and, as a result, ends up giving up. These gender stereotypes may end up shattering their aspirations and discourage them from pursuing STEM subjects.
Other factors might include in-group favouritism, which means that recruiters tend to prioritize people that fit the company’s culture. Hence, the outcome is hiring managers preferring other males when it comes to expanding the workforce. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now, let’s talk about what changes can be made in order to get more and more women in tech.
Ways to attract more women in tech:
It will take a few measures to both hire and retain talented women in the workforce. Below are a few changes we can make to further our progress:
The 50–50 mindset
It is very important for a business or company to inculcate a 50–50 mindset for fair treatment. This means making it clear that males are 50% of the world population, while the remaining 50% is women. The first step to make this a reality is making it part of the company culture to promote this; let’s call it ideal gender-based parity.
This does not only stand limited to including women in the workforce but also treating them as equals and paying the same salary band as that of the man’s.
Other than this, it is absolutely okay that if your company’s number of male and female employees does not even out, the goal should be to give them equal opportunities and visibility. Both genders should and must be equally valued and heard.
In fact, it should not be limited to males and females. A company’s culture should not be biased when it comes to gender or sexual orientation; they should be welcoming people from all walks of life. They must strive to kill the stereotype by providing equal representation to the LGBTQI community. Talent knows no bounds, and so should be any company’s motto.
Put women in leadership roles
Coming back to the point made earlier, the tech sector is heavily and notoriously dominated by males. Hence, it is imperative to incorporate the concept of gender diversity into the core hiring process. Moreover, what is even more important is to include women when making strong leadership teams.
Female applicants will be more than happy and interested to work for a company that advocates and actively promote women in tech by devising a culture that thrives on gender equality.
Reconsider the way in which you advertise hiring for tech roles
Ponder and consider the way you put forward your requirements while advertising open tech roles. Make sure to omit any biased verbiage the job description might contain. This is because it can have a substantial impact on the women looking forward to applying for the position. Try and make it look less pressurizing or intense as it can come off as intimidating for women who have always been fed the idea that the tech sector is a male-dominated industry.
The best way to pinpoint biased language in a job description is by running it through A/B testing on Glassdoor.
Share stories
Everyone, especially job seekers, loves to hear and read good stories. Women in the tech business should be highlighting female employees’ stories as it can prove to be a massive source of encouragement. Make sure you post them both on your blog and social media accounts so that it reaches more and more women and puts a spark of hope in them.
As for men in managerial positions, they should be asking their female colleagues about how their experience has been. They might even want to consider giving an acknowledgement of the fact that there have been a number of discouraging statistics about women in tech. And, so he considers it as his priority and responsibility to time and again ask for feedback from female employees and bring in improvement.
Empower women
Hiring women is one thing while maintaining a supportive work culture is another. To put things in perspective, it is important to create workplace policies that are flexible and offer generous maternity packages. These two elements are one of the most thoughtful and effective ways to show a firm commitment to women, and of course, working families in general. A recent study reported in Fortune stated that about 86% of 716 women who had participated in the survey had to leave the tech industry due to no or inflexible maternity-leave policy.
In addition to this, employee resource groups and mentoring programs, specially dedicated to women, come off as more attractive and add up to long-term engagement when it comes to the job.
Voice out and take a stand
Be brave enough to call out employees who seem to threaten the company’s inclusivity and diversity clause. Similarly, don’t be afraid when it comes to pointing out a certain company’s non-inclusive behaviour.
Change can only come if people, in general, call out offensive and degrading behaviours. Additionally, it is very important for women to take charge and offer support to fellow women.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is pertinent to mention here that change does not happen overnight, especially something as eradicating gender imbalances in the tech industry. However, it can only come with consistency and determination.
Moreover, if everyone plays their part to their fullest, be it business leaders, women currently in tech, and women aspiring to enter the tech industry, then expect the change to happen much sooner rather than later.
.
