The key milestones to support women in a STEM career
It’s that time of the year when tech leaders especially look within to their corporate approaches to diversity and how they support women in a STEM career. We’re aware that more needs to be done to motivate girls at school level, to support women in our hiring strategies and working cultures, and to realise the huge benefits that diverse teams bring to individual wellbeing, productivity, and the bottom line.
But although some great pro-female initiatives have been established, along with a huge increase in industry conversation, more must be done at the key milestones for girls and women to access and feel supported in our rewarding tech industry.
Clarifying access points to the industry
The access points for technology aren’t as clear as they should be, for women or young men for that matter, but it might in part explain why the number of female entrants for computing at GCSE was 20.6% of the total in 2021. There’s a vision imposed at an early age about what technology roles involve, from well before the computer science GCSE level – that it’s a technical role only and girls can’t be technical. But there’s so much more to tech than coding. We need people in sales, account management, in a vast breadth of roles throughout tech organisations. At the point when GCSE choices need to be made, there should be a wider index of what careers can be accessed from that subject.
We need to clarify that you can join the industry without a computer science-related GCSE or degree. For instance, if you work in logistics, or are great at solving problems, there’s likely to be a good synergy between the skills you have and the expertise a tech company is looking for.
More school initiatives
Initiatives between tech companies and schools can play a vital role in educating young people about the applications of computer science, and its wider context. When Red Ant ran a project with three secondary schools for students to design an app for sportswear, it clearly demonstrated the power of engaging with students directly. Providing real-life examples of what you might do in a tech role can open young people’s eyes to a subject. They need to see beyond the curriculum and into the career.
Hiring strategy is vital
It’s important to realise that a business’ hiring strategy reflects its business culture and everything you say or don’t say can help remove gender bias. At Red Ant, we work hard internally to make sure our job descriptions connect with the candidates we want to attract. That’s not to say that we advertise for women to join the business, but we take great care that we don’t advertise roles in such a way which might preclude them from wanting to join. We have an overarching self-policing of the internal community that anything is possible – that success is not determined by gender.
Not having a formal cookie-cutter approach to the candidates you are looking for can unlock potential. That of course means there needs to be some element of relevant experience, but for us, there’s not a need to study ‘X’ subject at university level for instance. We’ve realised that you can gain far more in a candidate from the skills you can’t see than in those you can. What’s missing in the job description might be all the skills a candidate needs to be successful in that position, such as creativity and inspiration, perseverance to try different approaches for a client, and presentation skills when we’re looking to win new business.
Right from when our candidates start their research on LinkedIn, they can see from Red Ant’s profile there’s a high proportion of females within the business, which breaks down that barrier from the get-go. I think it’s refreshing to see females in the application process, and right from the first interview, they know it’s not a one-woman-per-team structure.
There’s a strong correlation between empathy and volunteering, and empathy is such an essential value to have within the team, running right through the business. Our philanthropy activity at Red Ant is widely promoted and helps us to build that percentage of women who want to join us.
Having more diverse teams and more balance in terms of gender makes for effective teams which allow us to build the business. We have a high proportion of women who are team leaders, which means they can relate to family and work-related issues from a woman’s perspective. We’ve noticed our growth in line with our diversity is strong, and I don’t believe this is accidental. Looking after your workers can absolutely support your wider business goals.
Supporting women through career journeys
We have a strong community at Red Ant and for our ‘Ants’ to have a sense of belonging is vital. At the points where women typically leave the industry, we need to work harder at encouraging this sense of belonging, that while they’re spending time with their families, they remain part of the team. Our hybrid working approach has definitely fostered a sense of inclusion.
A typical drop-out point is after maternity leave, which means you need to work hard at finding the right pattern for a return to work. This requires an open discussion about what level of responsibility is comfortable, and to keep trying to achieve a balance, as you don’t always get it right first time. So many women leave the industry facing the conflicting choice between family and a tech career. The industry must do more to support finding this balance and design roles to fit the worker. As a digital leader, it doesn’t take long before you realise that the wealth of value a woman can bring to the business is worth working hard to accommodate.
From subject choices to the top
We need to keep showcasing all the positive actions for change, the role models and mentors supporting women starting out in the industry. It’s so important to see girls and women in a broad spectrum of STEM careers – from sales and marketing to operations, cybersecurity and software development, and client management. De-stereotyping the industry and showing how varied careers can be is what it’s all about.
Increasing industry engagement with girls from secondary school age will provide insight into the many and various opportunities a STEM career can offer, to boost STEM subject uptake.
Yes, it is that time of the year again, but it’s not enough to devote a day or even a month to the subject. To become truly diverse in education and employment, there needs to be a long-term strategy to remove gender bias, to motivate girls to explore rewarding STEM subjects which can lead to so many opportunities. And offering flexible working solutions to design roles around lifestyles will help them make it right to the top.
Sarah Friswell, CEO at Red Ant
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