Gender diversity is crucial to any workplace. It is already known that the tech industry only has 19% of roles are filled by women, so it is clear that the industry needs to improve on gender diversity. Tackling gender diversity will hopefully break industry stereotypes, identify the importance of female role models, encourage more girls to study STEM subjects and show businesses the importance and benefits of gender diversity.
Gender diversity benefits all businesses because it provides them with a wider talent pool. Having a variety of talents in your business can provide a vast difference to productivity and your bottom line. Men and women have different viewpoints, ideas and insights which allows for better problem solving and an increase in business performance. These differences can also help increase innovation and creativity and help businesses to seize new opportunities and challenge gender stereotypes. Another benefit of having a gender diverse business is that it attracts a diverse customer base which you can communicate with effectively. Gender diversity also helps businesses retain and attract talented women. Females look for employers who have a strong diverse company as it is important to them that they receive equal benefits from their job.
Along with the benefits it creates for a business, the benefits of gender diversity can also help employees in the workplace. Studies have shown that having a gender diverse policy can increase positivity in the workplace. Workers feel like they can self-promote, communicate their ambitions and are more likely to progress in their career. Both men and women feel they benefit from gender diversity policies within an organisation as they are more likely to feel that there is equal pay between genders. As gender diverse organisations are likely to produce better results, it is the employees that reap the rewards which motivates workers and increases their job satisfaction.
Businesses must look at the gender balance in certain business units when designing and implementing strategies to measure what matters in diversity. The strategies also help businesses to notice the benefits of gender diversity. Some of these units include:
Pay – Assessing pay levels to ensure both males and females in the same roles receive the same pay. This applies for not only base salary, but for discretionary pay and monthly/annual bonuses. Businesses should be aware of the formulas behind performance bonuses to ensure there is no unintentional bias against women.
Recruitment – Companies need to ensure they are recruiting a strong pipeline of women. The ratio of men to women should be equal when it comes to applying for positions, sending out interviews and being hired. It is known that attracting women into tech can be a struggle but looking at each stage of an interview is key to preventing the overlook of female candidates.
Retention – Businesses need to know and track the percentages of men and women at senior levels. Women find it harder to climb the ladder in an organisation than men, due to the gender imbalance. Even if businesses were to try to increase the percentage between men and women by 1% or 2% each year, it would have a huge effect over a 10-year period.
Advancement – Advancement ensures that women are promoted into leadership positions. Businesses need to monitor the percentage of women in leadership positions and measure the percentage of women being promoted compared to men. This will indicate whether women within the company are advancing into senior positions.
Representation – Lastly, companies need to ensure there are more women in senior leadership positions such as a CEO. A lot of industries, including the tech industry, have many women working in leaderships roles in HR and Marketing, however less than 10% of women are technology officers.
Gender diversity is an ongoing issue for businesses, especially businesses in the tech industry. Some businesses fail to recognise the positive impact a gender diverse workforce can have on an organisation and therefore do not address the issue. As this article shows, there are many benefits of gender diversity and several ways you can measure this matter. Making gender diverse policies can bring positives for men and women in the working environment and can lead to financial benefits and help a business reach its full potential.