The recent Fortune 500 list revealed that more than 10 per cent of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) leading these companies are women. While this may not seem like much, it is remarkable, for this is the first time in the list’s 68 years that this percentage has breached the 10 per cent mark. Although this is a good start, it also highlights the immense opportunity we have to achieve gender parity, especially at leadership levels.
Women have traditionally been under-represented in the technology industry. Reports suggest that the number of women hired in the tech sector has increased by only 2 per cent in the last 21 years. Several factors contribute to this including the lack of enough role models and gender stereotypes. While the numbers for gender balance at the entry levels are quite encouraging in India, the need of the hour is for organisations to improve the pipeline to hire, retain and grow more women for a more gender-diverse digital ecosystem.
A culture of continuous learning with a greater emphasis on reskilling, upskilling and virtual training can lead to reduced attrition and greater retention of women. This, in turn, accelerates the growth of women within the organisation.
Empowering women to aspire for more
Women are equipped to be great transformational leaders due to their strong tolerance for discomfort, high self-awareness, awareness of others, and a more collaborative leadership style. Therefore, they are wired differently and respond to crises differently too. This has its own merit. Businesses today must unleash the power of this difference. This presents a great opportunity for women to rise to their potential.
While actively hiring women is a good start, it is not enough to bring in sweeping changes at a systemic level. In order to build strong women leaders, organisations must also work towards creating a conducive environment where women have an opportunity to learn, explore, thrive, and grow to their potential.
This can translate into several initiatives on the ground. Hence, allowing for flexible work schedules that measure output rather than physical presence is a good step. The pandemic has shown us that it is possible to be productive irrespective of your physical location. Organisations must take the learnings from the pandemic into account and build workplaces that are not restrictive to any group.
Other proactive measures may include gender balance initiatives like 'start young', promoting workplace culture and policies that enable women to thrive and investing in building the skills of women in the workforce. Organisations must also recruit women leaders and give women a voice at the table, providing equal compensation and work flexibility.
There is certainly a lot to work to be done but also several reasons to cheer. As per a Deloitte study, the share of women in the overall global tech workforce has increased by 6.9 per cent from 2019 to 2022, while their share in technical roles has grown by 11.7 per cent. With more proactive policies, embracing equity and a steady societal shift, the future for women in technology is certainly bright.
(The author is the chief executive officer at BAM Digital Realty)