In March, numerous Western countries observe Women’s History Month and, on March 8, International Women’s Day (IWD). This global event is dedicated to recognizing the significant contributions and achievements of women in broader society.
As a senior female leader within technology for over two decades, I am acutely aware of the ebb and flow of the conversation around equality across the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. I strive to use my voice to provide visionary and inclusive leadership, spearheading enterprise technology initiatives that drive the scalable growth of companies. I am aware of the challenges that we face in the technology sector. According to the 2023 McKinsey Women in the Workplace Report, 48% of entry level management positions are filled by women, and only 28% of C-suite positions are women throughout the corporate world.
This year’s theme for IWD is Inspire Inclusion, when we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. In December 2019 I published an article on LinkedIn that spoke about the importance of advocating, acting and connecting, #TogetherWeAreStronger. I’d like to reflect and build on those themes here and update and unpack how we can inspire inclusion in our workplace…Let’s start with connection.
Connection
A woman’s journey in STEM is as diverse and different as the women themselves. We must work toward supporting each other in this journey. While early career women often have different needs than tenured leaders, I’ve found that we also have a lot in common, and we should draw from that commonality and shared experience to build a foundation on which we can act together in unison and towards a society where women have equal opportunities, experiences, and recognition in STEM.
One of the most successful networking initiatives I’ve seen in recent years is “Coffee Connects.” These can be in person or virtual, and provide a safe, networking opportunity to discuss a topic or subject. They can form part of a formal employee resource group (ERG) regular events or can be organized around a range of topics you want to discuss as an organization.
One of my key recommendations is to replace the concept of “networking” with making meaningful connections. We then replace the fear that strikes many of us as we are thrust into a group of strangers and told to go “network”. By sharing stories and experiences we are able to connect with each other in a powerful and authentic way.
Top tip: Always leave time for connecting and a Q&A audience engagement session, and if it’s an in-person connection, drinks and sweet treats snacks always help to bring a crowd. Check out the cinnamon braid bread Estonian Kringel, it’s amazing and some of the best chats I’ve had with my team at Pipedrive have been over Kringel and coffee!
Active Participation
You can’t inspire inclusion from the sidelines. In this article, I’ll break this down into mentorship and sponsorship activities. According to statistics from Gartner, 39% of women believe they don’t have the same opportunities for advancement as their male counterparts. In the same McKinsey report, for every 100 men promoted to an entry-level management position, only 87 women are promoted. There continues to be a “broken rung” for this first big career hurdle – and this trend hasn’t changed in nine years of surveys. I remember seeing this data for the first time nearly a decade ago and having a light-bulb moment. The leaky pipeline is not only filled with holes, through which we lose great talent, it’s narrower to start with. One way I have tried to counter this is through active mentorship opportunities.
Mentorship opportunities are one way for female colleagues to expand their networks and focus on how they can add to their skill sets and be better recognized for promotions. For career support, organizations can offer females, women-focused leadership development workshops or entrepreneurship seminars with specific sessions on negotiation, inclusive leadership or how to be heard.
In industries like sales, where women occupy almost half (49.8%) of all sales career roles (in the U.S.), but are often paid less in commissions over time than their male counterparts, having a mentorship program or opportunity with a woman leader in the field would prove to be very beneficial. We have all heard the phrase “you can’t be it, if you can’t see it!” This becomes increasingly important as we think about how we attract girls into technology, role modeling and showing the art of the possible when unpacking careers in STEM is critical.
Additionally, roles are changing. Technology is advancing our progress at rapid speeds, and technology workers are now called on more than before to lead business growth. In these types of scenarios senior mentorship and opportunities to shadow the C-Suite executives to learn more about running a successful business are one way to support a growth-mindset and inclusivity.
As women develop in their careers, I am a great believer that sponsorship becomes more important than mentorship. The wonderful Dr. Anita Sands once shared with me that sponsorship is someone actively speaking up for you when you are not in the room. I am an advocate of thoughtful and intentional sponsorship of all of my team, and I always look for opportunities to amplify and accentuate any successes with the recognition of talent, skills or future opportunity, key when demonstrating inclusive leadership. Pipedrive is a people-first organization. This part of our culture that places our Pipedrivers at the heart of all we do translates into an environment where sponsorship and celebrating internal drive is our norm.
Allyship
Allyship is a key part of supporting. Evidence continues to suggest a gender bias in many high-earning industry sectors (technology, finance, engineering, sales) and pay disparity continues. Studies show that women in the US continue to earn, on average, 18% less than men.
Many organizations run D&I training and have made their recruitment practices gender neutral. All of this is to be applauded. I have found that fostering allyship at a grassroot level is very powerful. Allyship for any marginalized group is important. I’ve found that by having a focus on allyship, even as you set up an ERG, widens the conversation, it makes it more inclusive, and you hear and can promote different voices and a richer experience. Some of the most powerful messaging I’ve heard on women in technology have come from male CTOs with daughters who see the current landscape and are starting the conversations to make the change.
Advocating for Change
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but having a platform can make effecting change easier. My final theme is advocating for change. Taking part in the conversation around change and policies is a practical way to pay homage to IWD. In 2022, the World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. 27th out of 146 countries for gender equality, which means the U.S. is doing worse than the Philippines, Albania and even Burundi, one of the poorest countries by GDP in the world. By supporting policies that help close the gender gap, you encourage your stakeholders and colleagues to do the same.
While International Women’s Day is an incredible opportunity to bring light to gender issues in business, it should not be something that is talked about for just one day. There is no quick fix here, it’s about being in this for the long haul and being clear about what we can change and affect and being consistent and constant in the approach. Supporting inclusion can be exhausting, as it’s not just another box to check each year for IWD. By providing yearlong support and inclusive leadership to the women in your business you are taking up your part in Inspiring Inclusion.
“When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment. Collectively, let’s forge a more inclusive world for women.” IWD2024
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