What does “women in tech” mean?
Originally, it was intended to be a movement to support women and girls, fostering inclusion, diversity and equity in STE(A)M. There were four main pillars: education, business, digital inclusion, and advocacy.
Today tech is everywhere, it’s not like years ago when marketing and IT were completely separate. The chances are that today if you work in a marketing role, it is quite technical, or you at least need to
have a solid grasp of the technical aspects. I even hear the term ‘technical marketeer’ used sometimes.
Women are also far better represented in the workplace. In 2021 72% of women aged 16-64 were in employment compared with 53% in 1971.
So, women in tech as a movement is obsolete? Well, no, not quite.
Despite more women than ever entering the job market with STEM degrees, there are still many areas of inequality and issues that women face every day in their roles. Women are four times more likely to consider gender bias as an obstacle to promotion compared to men. Overall, the culture in tech business is still male dominant and, although it may be unconscious, biases exist at every turn.
The original aim of women in tech as a movement was to “educate, equip and empower women and girls with the necessary skills and confidence to succeed in STEM career fields” and it’s definitely still relevant today.
Why is it important to support women in tech?
1. It’s the right thing to do.
But if that’s not enough to convince you here are a few more:
2. Women think differently.
Good different. This difference creates a team with alternate viewpoints and helps avoid becoming an echo chamber. This diversity brings new and unique ideas into the mix and helps improve problem solving.
3. Diversity creates an inclusive culture.
Today, in a post-covid world, we are all more considerate to each other when it comes to juggling our work/home responsibilities, but we can always do more.
Diversity helps shape a culture where we take into considerations everyone’s different priorities whether that’s childcare, the school pick up, looking after relatives, or a healthy gym routine. If everyone you work with looked the same, but not the same as you, it’s easy to see how a ‘bro culture’ could subconsciously develop around you.
4. Diversity generates more revenue.
On average, companies with higher gender diversity tend to have better innovation and improved financial performance (according to a study by Boston Consulting Group in 2021). Furthermore, those with at least 3 women in leading positions saw a 66% increase in ROI.
What are we doing at DCS to support this?
Here’s some stats that demonstrate how we’re building a brilliant and inclusive team:
- 36% of DCS employees are women – beating the GAFAM average of 25%
- 40% of DCS India are women
- 40% of our Managers are women
- 30% of our DCS 2020 Graduate Cohort were women
- Is there more we can do, absolutely, but how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
- If your inspired to join our growing team, please reach out to find out more.
