The discussion about the participation of women in technology positions is more relevant today than ever. Understanding the factors that influence their low participation will allow us, as companies, to focus our efforts strategically and address the lack of female talent with technological training.
Despite decades of progress towards equality in many companies, specifically in the technology areas, it is still at lower levels, only occupying between 21% and 40% of the total number of positions. Latin America is the region with the lowest percentage of women in its labor force. In other words, less than 20% of its employees are women.
But how to empower women to lead in technology?
1.Working towards a change of mentality
The human mind is unconsciously biased and seeks its way around certain hiring practices. Recruiting managers and senior leaders need to take these preferences into account to ensure unbiased hiring.
2.Knowing the corporate benefits of attracting female talent.
Companies in Latin America recognize that great efforts must be made to reinvent programs to attract and retain female talent, especially in the areas of technology, since they have understood that equitable gender representation guarantees diverse talent in terms of perceptions, capabilities and skills, where men and women can contribute their full potential to the development and improvement of processes, based on integrated approaches and innovative solutions.
3. Educating for the future
We believe that the game changer to break down the disparities that exist today in the technology industry is Education, as a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that girls still lack the confidence to pursue well-paid careers in science and technology.in Latin America, the ratio of women studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers vs. men has reached 44%. In other words, out of every 100 professionals in IT-related careers, only 44 are women. So the key is education to break down these barriers to increase the role of women in the IT sector.
We also highlight the Hub Leaders program as an initiative to empower more women in positions in the technology industry. As they become important for companies to set gender targets and initiatives to help women move up to more senior positions. Including actions such as mentoring, reverse mentoring, return-to-work schemes for women to take on technology roles after career breaks and sponsorship programs for high-performing women, among others.
We must work on incentives for gender equality at all levels of the organization and on processes that mitigate unconscious biases.understanding that gender equality is a key factor for innovation, and a fundamental aspect for the development of the technology sector, companies must be more aware of the role of women in the labor market, specifically in the technology area. This way we will be a step ahead to face the future of work.
At SkillCO we believe in equal opportunities for women in the IT sector. Contact us if you need more information about the profiles we are recruiting or if you are a company that believes in gender equality and you need the ideal candidate for the technology profile you are looking for, we focus on Tech Recruitment!
info@en.skillscolombia.com Write to us for more information. Remember you can follow us at LinkedIn y Facebook to know more about us.
