Ready for a tough statistic to swallow?
Despite ongoing conversations around gender equality in the workplace and recruitment efforts to get more women in STEM-related jobs and leadership positions, the gender gap for women in tech is worse off in 2021 than it was nearly 40 years ago.
That’s according to a research report conducted by Accenture and Girls Who Code, which found the number of women in tech roles compared to men has declined since 1984. Even more, half of the women in tech are dropping out by the age of 35, a rate that’s 45 percent higher than men who leave the industry.
The gender gap for women in tech is worse off in 2021 than it was nearly 40 years ago.”
So, after a decade-long conversation about supporting women in tech, where can the difference be made?
One area to start is in building an inclusive workplace.
When a work environment is more inclusive, the same report — which surveyed more than 3,000 tech workers, college students and HR leaders — found that the likelihood of women advancing into leadership roles by age 30 increases by 61 percent and by 77 percent for women of color. On the other hand, the chance of women moving up into management positions in less-inclusive workplaces dropped to just 28 percent.
The more opportunities for women in tech, the more likely they are to stay within the field, and, eventually, that gender gap will begin to fade.
To learn how your company can build a more inclusive environment for women through allyship, we turned to four leaders from Colorado tech.
Identify Where Progress Is Needed
“A first step to understanding where allyship can have an impact is to create the space to ask questions like: Do women feel that they have equal opportunity to advance? Does their manager act as a champion for them? Do they feel supported in their professional growth? What barriers are preventing women from engaging or advancing? What would help? Allies create space for these discussions, amplify diverse answers and advocate for support and progress where it is needed.
“At Guild, we created a cross-functional diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) council that uncovers and advocates for the needs of Guilders and stakeholders. We also launched our Women@Guild employee resource group (ERG) that aims to foster community, connection and advocacy so that women can advance their leadership potential and enhance their sense of belonging at Guild. During Women’s History month, we held discussions on the impact of COVID-19 on women in the workplace and how Guild can advocate for women and caregivers internally and for the students we serve.
“To hold ourselves accountable to all of this, we conducted a pay equity study to ensure that, across the company, employees are paid equitably.”
Sveta Dawant is the chief of staff of platform and experience at the edtech platform Guild Education.
Amplify Women’s Voices
“It is important for allies to be willing to take ownership of their privilege and to acknowledge that bias exists. Bias toward women in the workplace does not exclusively come from men, it can also occur between women. The more we all create awareness to combat it, the more representation and inclusion we can accomplish for women in the workplace.
“One thing we can do to be better allies to women in the workplace is to amplify women’s voices. This could include sponsorship of people and ideas, celebration and recognition of the accomplishments of our women colleagues, and encouraging more women to participate in meetings, projects and networking opportunities.
“Many people worry about saying the wrong thing when it comes to being an ally in the workplace, but it’s better to show up with a willingness to be imperfect than to do nothing at all.
“Showing up with genuine curiosity, active listening, and the intention to act is important as an ally. Many of us listen with the intent to respond, so you must instead challenge yourself to listen with the intent to understand and learn. When you take ownership of your bias and assume the responsibility of educating yourself, you can help amplify women’s voices.”
Megan Kelley is a director of corporate sales for Druva, a cloud-based data protection service.
Avoid Unconscious Bias
“Everyone can be better allies by learning to avoid unconscious gender bias, which women face in engineering. For example, there’s an unconscious bias that women are less capable of grasping complex technical issues and therefore require more assistance and explanation. Another example is the unconscious gender bias that female engineers do not want to get their hands dirty building prototypes or conducting tests and deployments in the field.
“This results in women being overlooked or dismissed for high-profile projects and assignments. When we all take steps to avoid unconscious gender bias, women have more equal opportunities to advance their careers, make the salaries they deserve and hold executive-level positions.
“To avoid unconscious gender bias, ask yourself questions like: Do I routinely dismiss women’s opinions in the room? Do I interrupt or talk over women? Do I explain assignments ad nauseam to female employees? If you’re a leader in your organization ask: Do I routinely avoid giving women time-sensitive, complex or hands-on field projects? Do I assemble all-male teams? By answering these types of questions honestly, you empower yourself and others to avoid unconscious gender bias and become better allies to women in the workplace.”
Natalie Kalin is a systems engineer at Outrider, a provider of autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs.
Be a Champion for Women
“Be their champion. This means listening and respecting generously, at all times. Demonstrate empathy and validate their experiences. People need to listen in order to understand, respect in order to empower and speak up when they see others not being a champion. By being a champion to women, you enable them to be successful and become leaders in the workplace rather than trying to fix things for them.
“This means if you see something, then say something. Celebrate women’s successes and ideas publicly and loudly. Don’t be a victim of bystander paralysis, share their success with others whether they are there or not. On the flip side, if you see a sexist comment or behavior, say something in the moment and be clear and decisive in shutting it down. This will create a culture for everyone on what behavior is acceptable and what is not.”
Tara Pease is a people partner manager at Duda, a web design platform.
