3% of women and girls say a career in technology is their first choice, and 78% of students can’t name a famous woman working in technology, according to PWC. 48% of women in STEM jobs report discrimination in the recruitment and hiring process, and there has been a mere 2 per cent increase in women software engineer hires over the last 20 years, according to BuiltIn.
While getting more women into tech has been a goal for plenty of organisations and governments, there is still a dire lack of representation of minority groups in tech. Women also hold a mere 10% of the industry’s leadership roles.
But what’s the story behind the statistics, and how do we get to meaningful change?
We launched the Women in Software campaign in 2019, seeking to unify women across the tech sphere to share their experiences and boost visibility for women in software development. Today, the initiative provides an opportunity to amplify the women and organisations that are driving real, tangible change on the UK tech scene.
This year, we hosted Women in Software 2021 at the Financial Times’ Bracken House and were backed by Computer Weekly, the FT, and Google for Startups.
We wanted to capture some of the insights and learnings from the past several years, and suggest potential solutions that individuals, organisations, and all members of our community can work towards as we enter 2022.
That’s why we put together a whitepaper report titled Re-coding Tech: Gender Inequality in the Tech Industry.
Breaking down the issue: a preview
The problem starts with attracting women into the industry, which can begin as early as secondary school education. Too few girls are encouraged to take STEM — science, technology, engineering and maths — subjects to an advanced level.
Then, in the hiring process, gender biases (both conscious and subconscious) mean that fewer women are encouraged to apply for tech roles. In some cases, even secret AI recruiting tools have demonstrated bias against women.
Many women in tech also feel they lack support from their managers when it comes to job security and work/life balance. Others also feel that their company doesn’t actively enforce inclusive policies that enable women to better juggle their work and home duties — such as flexible hours and parental leave.
There is also the issue of ‘glue work’ which was brought about by Tanya Reilly (a principal software engineer at Squarespace). As she specifies in a talk, glue work involves the other skills besides coding, that optimise a software engineering team:
“Like noticing when other people in the team are blocked and helping them out. Or reviewing design documents and noticing what’s being handwaved or what’s inconsistent. Or onboarding the new people and making them productive faster. Or improving processes to make customers happy.”
If the level of glue work is not managed properly, it ends up taking up a huge proportion of time. Reilly describes how women are typically the main ones responsible for these tasks in engineering teams. This largely invisible work often directly impacts women’s career development over time, as it decreases their overall productivity as well as their engagement with the team and willingness to stay in their role.
Outlining some potential solutions
We believe that mentoring is one of the most powerful and effective ways to facilitate personal development in organisations. Mentoring programmes have also been shown to boost minority representation at the management level from 9% to 24%, and the benefits of mentorships are well-documented, increasing promotion and retention rates for minorities and women from 15% to 38% when juxtaposed with non-mentored employees.
Strong industry partnerships with academic institutions can also lead to creating more graduate programmes and internal awareness schemes that specifically help women. Some universities have even run computer science groups specifically for female students, often bringing in external speakers and encouraging female students to meet up regularly with one another. To expand and maintain these groups, industry connections are crucial.
Once women are employed in technology roles, encouraging flexible working can often boost engagement. Workers who are encouraged to work flexibly often report an increase in autonomy and competence, which are both important factors for motivation and wellbeing.
Unconscious bias training can often help teams and individuals confidently navigate issues like bias, privilege and identity — and how these play out in the workplace. These programmes are designed to provide tools, practices and frameworks to adjust automatic patterns of thinking, and eliminate discriminatory behaviours.
A crucial step is to provide safe and regular opportunities for feedback on company culture. Introducing, maintaining and celebrating safe and regular avenues for feedback helps to build a sense of psychological safety and an inclusive culture.
Who is the report for?
More companies are now aiming to treat diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as an organisational core value, and it is up to everyone to help to create culture shifts that lead to truly long-lasting gender equity within organisations.
We believe that it’s not only up to CIOs and technology executives to play a crucial role but also anyone who considers themselves a strategic partner in helping to solve complex DEI priorities. For that reason, this report is for any future tech leaders and people leaders who want to increase engagement, collaboration and belonging in their organisations.
It’s also for CEOs, COOs and CHROs who want to build more inclusive teams but are not quite sure where to begin.
The report goes into further detail on all the above topics and more. Download your free copy here!
