Diversity-focused organisations Feminuity and #movethedial have released a resource that promises to help retain more women in tech, worldwide. Inclusion, Intention, and Investment: A Playbook for Retaining Women Working in Tech provides key insights and tactics that technology companies at all stages of development – be they startups, scaleups or large enterprises – can use to accelerate inclusion and help retain more women in tech.
Although the report is Canadian-centric, it’s intended to be useful to tech companies around the world, confirmed Dr Sarah Saska, Co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based consultancy Feminuity. “To achieve a more inclusive tech sector, companies of all sizes must work to wholeheartedly embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion and actively integrate new and innovative practices within their businesses,” she stated. “This Playbook is a call-to-action for all tech companies to take stock of their current practices, identify the gaps, and make a commitment to share, amplify, and scale these leading practices sector-wide.”
CANADIAN TECH SECTOR
Women currently comprise 25% of the Canadian tech industry, yet despite a being growing sector, their participation has remained stagnant for the last 10 years. Women are underrepresented, marginalised and underpaid, with 50% of women still believing that companies in the tech sector do not want to hire them, according to the Playbook research.
“Although organisations of all sizes are investing a lot of time, energy, and resources to recruit and hire women, the same cannot be said about women’s experiences once they’re through the door,” explained Jodi Kovitz, Founder and CEO of #movethedial, a movement committed to advancing the participation and leadership of all women in technology. “As a result, women continue to be vastly underrepresented in technology-centric workforces, especially in leadership positions. We developed this Playbook to better understand and communicate how companies of all sizes can move the dial in a way that benefits all women in the tech sector.”
KEY FINDINGS
The research, conducted over the course of four months with 70 leaders from across Canada’s tech sector, has valuable advice for startups, scaleups and large tech firms.
The biggest challenge startups face is that they are competing against well-resourced scaleups and big tech companies to attract and retain talent, Playbook reveals. Startups, however, can create value for employees by offering flexibility and autonomy. The study notes that when startups get everyone involved in retention, design diverse teams and products, and focus on resourcefulness, they can establish the foundation for inclusive growth.
Scaleups, which close the gap between startups and large enterprises in the innovation ecosystem, are setting the stage for technologies that will drive the world’s economies in the next 20 years. Scaleups know how important it is to attract and retain women who want to grow their careers alongside the growth of the company, according to Playbook. With this in mind, scaleups can focus their efforts on employee engagement, designing structure around great practices, and learn how an intersectional approach can further support people in the workplace.
Large enterprises are often setting trends in the tech sector and taking a long-term view on career paths to prepare women working in tech for the future. Successfully integrating diversity, equity and inclusion across large companies is complex, so hiring a Chief Diversity Officer can aid this challenging process, points out Playbook. They can also help to reimagine approaches to mental wellbeing, caregiving and supporting work-life balance.
The Playbook, which was released to coincide with the recent #movethedial Global Summit, can be downloaded here.
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