These figures tell us something: while women are taking more and more spaces in most academic and scientific fields; even in IT there is a context that has not been reversed. How can we get more women to the top of tech across the board?
The challenge of recognizing unconscious bias
Unconscious biases are assumptions or beliefs that we are not even aware of. That is why it is very possible that, when asked, we are very much in favor of teams being diverse, that women take more and more spaces. However, when we look at reality, We notice that it is difficult to materialize this willespecially in our industry. This is because, when making decisions like who to hire or who to promote, the main obstacle It is not in what we want, but in our sunconscious egos.
Unconscious bias is real. In the world of technology, recognizing gender bias is the first step in addressing the problem. Businesses need to take a hard look at their own preconceptions and devise plans to combat them. Women are four times more likely than men to consider the gender bias as an obstacle for the promotion, according to a recent report from TrustRadius.
One way to work this is by incorporating comprehensive feedback processes that result from the return of a superior, a peer, a self-assessment and another person from the team. This is one concrete way to reduce biasinvolving the opinion of different members of the team.
The impact of women in leading positions
The tutoring has a great impact on professional development both mentors and mentees. A little more than half of the business professionals say they have had a mentor, according to a survey by the Olivet Nazarene University. But 82% of the men surveyed said they had had a male mentorwhile only 69% of women had had a female mentor. This is a clear and concrete point where the companies and universities can start to get better: In order to attract more women into the field of technology and bring them to the executive level, it is essential both provide sponsorship and mentoring opportunities for women at all levels; how to place in those reference positions for women.
In the case of Nearsure, we have had success with mentoring programs and so we believe that the technology industry should be committed to providing growth opportunities for people of all genders through these kinds of initiatives.
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Educating women about careers in technology
To attract more women to technology leadership positions, they must first know that these opportunities exist. That means educate early about the career and learning options available. That way, they get both the interest and the skills to succeed from an early age to excel in STEM careers.
For this reason, we are committed to sponsor events and organizations that help them to enter the sector, for example, the Jump conferences, organized by MediaChicas, a non-profit organization with the mission of bridging the digital gender gap, and FemIT, organized by Las de Sistemas, a transfeminist community of women , lesbians, transvestites, trans and non-binary, working in the technology industry.
At an international level, we also work with Girls Who Code, which since 2012 seeks to teach young women computer and programming skills through courses, camps and clubs. Also with Girls in Tech, a non-profit organization whose goal is to empower women in technology.
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Coherence between saying and doing: creating an inclusive business culture
I am lucky to run one company that values different backgrounds and perspectives where, within the leadership team, more than 50% are women. From that place we understand that promoting technology leadership is our collective responsibility.
It does not depend only on employers, who are the ones who encourage employees, provide skill upskilling opportunities, and drive mentoring in their organizations. And it’s not just the male allieswho add a voice to the voices of the marginalized and underrepresented populations, which are too often overlooked. Neither are the educatorswhich should teach younger women about their potential to pursue STEM at an early age. We must all work together to change the culture from the inside out.
CEO of Nearsure
Source: Ambito
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