Women are under-represented in the global tech ecosystem for a number of reasons, say experts. He also pointed out how to increase the representation of women in the ecosystem.
According to them, this is not an issue of an imbalanced global society in terms of lack of skilled technologists, but a manpower problem.
“The pay gap between women and men, gender bias in the workplace, and the lack of female role models in executive and leadership positions are major barriers,” Techstar investor Alisha Golden said in an email interview with our reporter. According to a study conducted by the international technology association Isaka, women who want to enter technology face a challenge.
“Women are severely underrepresented in the global tech workforce, which is not only an imbalanced global community issue, but also a workforce problem, a shortage of skilled technologists. Work exposure, training, bootcamps to make long-overdue improvements in ensuring women are more equitably represented in the tech workforce. And more opportunities are needed, including career development programs.
Explaining how organizations need to prioritize gender diversity, she explains that organizations need to invest in more women and create ways for more women to enter and thrive in the technology space.
Citing her company as an example, she said, “We have clear KPIs across our portfolio, which means our performance as an organization is measured against that. This is a deliberate approach to play a major role in being part of the change we want to see in a vastly male-centric industry.
Golden added, “We need to fund women-founded companies more than ever to establish equality of access and opportunity between men and women at all levels.” Women have historically been under-represented and under-funded.
“To address this gap, we need to support women founders beyond capital by understanding the terms of deals, how to negotiate them, where they have leverage, and how to support them. If you’re a partner of women founders, you need to speak up, write (big) checks and go battery when they’re evaluating these companies, write articles on them.” Write, and you should have keynote speakers at your meetings and put them on your panels, especially panels that discuss real topics; not panels on things like ‘what it’s like to be women in tech’. Let’s retire that for now.
“Open business hours, and building relationships with potential partners, customers, investors and supporters…that’s the job of all of us.”
According to a spokesperson for Ingressive Capital, a race-level VC, organizations should build a more inclusive work culture and eliminate any discriminatory employment policies, especially when it comes to equal opportunities for women, such as maternity leave, childcare policies and benefits.
The spokeswoman said that to ensure that more women enter tech, women already in tech need to put themselves out there and show young women that it is possible to be successful in tech no matter what.
