Are We Balanced? Is Balanced Better?

There are few industries that struggle to break the perception of a 'male only' career more than the IT sector…so, how big is the gender equality gap? What can we do to be a more balanced industry? Why is balance better?

On March 8th people around the world celebrated International Women’s Day, an event that’s been around for more than a century and which provides the opportunity to reflect on the importance of gender equality in all areas of life.

To mark the event Entanet and CityFibre colleagues joined forces to celebrate the successes of women, not just within our industry but the wider community, and also acknowledge that there is still so much work to do to ensure everyone gets a fair chance to succeed.

Current statistics show that for every 100 men that get promoted to a manager role, only 79 women get promoted. The step up to management is a critical step in most people’s career and if there’s such a dramatic widening of disparity at this early level, then we’ll never be able to achieve balance at more senior levels.

• Source: Women in the Workplace

Research also highlights that micro-companies (or digital native, culturally progressive start-ups) had the highest representation of women with 53% of all technical roles held by women, in comparison with small companies at 20%, medium at 23% and large at 19%. This shows that no matter the size of the company you can become more inclusive and diverse, especially if diversity is a focus when growing and developing teams.

• Information Age: Tech Talent Charter: Tackling gender diversity in tech through collaboration

Recruitment and retention is a key issue - often the wording of job descriptions contains words and phrases which make the role more attractive to a male and unintentionally disregards females. Over double the number of women in the tech sector quit their roles (41%) as men (17%) which suggests the problem doesn’t only lie with attracting women into the sector.

• Talentinternational.com: Why we’re not done talking about gender diversity in tech

Perhaps the most stark statistic that highlights the global gender equality gap in workplaces across the world is that there are more FTSE 100 CEOs called David than there are women, which is such an unbelievable and disappointing realisation.

• The Observer: 12 Statistics About Women in Tech That Show How Big the Gender Gap Truly Is

Why is balance better?

Companies with mostly women at the senior management level have a 26% higher return on invested capital than those with the least number of women. Also, companies where men and women are equal, earn 41% more revenue compared to all male or all female teams.

• Women of Silicon Roundabout: A Male Perspective on Women in Technology

Diverse companies are less likely to make significant mistakes because they have to embrace differing opinions and develop an environment that encourages healthy conflict. They are also more likely to have inclusive cultures that allow for new ideas, appreciate individuals and celebrate our differences.

• Harvard Business Review: Diverse Teams Feel Less Comfortable — and That’s Why They Perform Better

Entanet and CityFibre are actively striving to make a difference by instilling the culture that a balanced workplace is better and conversations that took place at our IWD event are just the first step.

It’s a cause that is close to the heart of our own influential woman CEO, Elsa Chen. Our Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee is currently forging relationships with schools and colleges and the youth education charity Rathbone Training to engage with more young women and encourage them to consider a career in the IT sector.

See below the video of Entanet and CityFibre’s take on International Women’s Day 2019. We heard an array of extremely inspirational talks and thought-provoking statistics and we encouraged everyone to take part in team challenges, proving that balance is better and that we are all working towards true equality in our industry!

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• Entanet Opinion Blog: Why women don’t need to be daunted by a job in the IT sector
• Entanet Opinion Blog: Why connecting with your community matters