Women in Tech

A Plan For Creating a More Inclusive Culture

This article discusses a program set up by the author to improve diversity and inclusion in their company. The program consists of micro-actions (15 minute activities) and macro-actions (1-3 hour activities) to demonstrate an attempt at making a more diverse and inclusive culture. The author has seen some micro-wins, such as sourcing female candidates and attending events, and has learned that this approach helps to keep diversity and inclusion at the top of everyone's minds.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

How to Retain Women Engineers

Companies have made efforts to increase the diversity of their tech workforce by improving recruitment of women, but not as much has been done to retain them. To address this, a company revised their career ladder to include recognition for mentoring, and initiated a Women's Club and other activities to support women engineers. Lessons learned include not making efforts a women-only initiative, recognizing women's hard work, being inclusive, and creating an environment that supports work-life balance.

Developing and Sustaining Diversity Within a Company

This article discusses the importance of hiring a diverse team and outlines the steps taken to achieve this. It suggests having a diverse interview panel, avoiding terms that label candidates, creating a grassroots organization, and using social networks as a hiring resource. It also suggests having a template that represents real voices from within the company to create a welcoming impact.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

The Power of Mentorship

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and encourages leaders to invest their time and energy in this activity. It highlights the benefits of mentorship, such as diversifying teams and boards, and emphasizes the importance of helping young professionals cultivate their leadership skills. The article also stresses that mentorship is an easy place to start and does not require a monetary investment.