Against the Odds: In this Tech Startup Diversity is a Reality

Steliana Kokonova
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

A lot has been written about diversity in organisations and specifically in start-ups — be it in gender, age, nationality or ethnicity. We at Parkbob started out with the idea to revolutionize parking in cities, and over the last years we have been growing and expanding our B2B operations in the mobility sector. To be perfectly honest, if we look at our strategy we have to admit that diversity was not explicitly on the agenda. However, we knew from day one that the parking problem we are trying to solve is a global one which requires a global solution and therefore an international team that can turn it into reality. This meant that diversity was part of our DNA, rooted in our openness and in the way we run our business and it has become a driving factor, a source of innovation and a reason for us to be proud of our team.

Looking at the statistics of being an IT company, our odds would appear pretty slim at achieving gender diversity. A recent EU report “Women in the Digital Age” found that only 29 out of 1000 female graduates have a degree in an ICT-related subject, and only 6 of these go on to work in the digital sector. That is an unfortunate trend given that the study also shows that if the digital sector included as many women as currently there are men (especially in managerial roles) the European GDP could be boosted annually by around € 9 billion.

At Parkbob, we are proud to say that the numbers look much more promising. Our team consists of 16 female employees out of a total team size of 27, and 13 out of them are in technical teams. In our case this was largely made possible with the help of a local Austrian grant that supports technical internships for female students. Over time this helped us reach our current team ratio of 59% women to 41% male employees, which is a wonderful source of different perspectives & innovation.

When it comes to diversity of nationality, Parkbob’s team has also naturally grown to include no fewer than 12 countries in a team of 27 people. The problems we are trying to solve (in our case — in the mobility sector) are nonroutine, complex ones that require innovative solutions. Research shows that diverse teams are more hard-working, creative & innovative, and this confirms our observations.

By now diversity is not something that just happens at Parkbob. We see it as an integral part of who we are as a team. We are actively committed to maintaining and expanding the diversity to also include people of different ages, sexual orientation, or physical ability. This is why we are all the more happy to have received the recognition of the Diversity Award of the start-up festival Bits & Pretzels, a three-day event that connects 5,000 founders, investors, startup enthusiasts, and other decision-makers of the startup ecosystem.

As a data-driven company, we cannot ignore the statistics and the facts showing that not all companies, and certainly not all IT start-ups, can achieve a diverse team by simply going on about their business as it happened with us at the beginning. An active engagement is required and an understanding of the benefits diversity brings for organisations should make us all willing to actively support it in our teams to the point when it becomes not a ‘special feature’ but an obvious part of being an IT company.

What’s the state of diversity in your organisation? How can we foster an inclusive environment in tech? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Parkbob

Digitizing the last mile in mobility

Steliana Kokonova

Written by

Exploring the future of work // Human Resource Manager at Parkbob & Impact Hub Vienna/ Holacracy/ Agile Methodologies/ Start-ups

Parkbob

Parkbob

Digitizing the last mile in mobility

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