What should tech companies do to promote diversity?

BrightHR Head of Digital Experience Anneka Burrett argues for change in the technology industry to promote diversity

Professional services firm PwC discovered in late 2017 while researching 2000 students, that 78 per cent of them couldn't name a famous female working in tech.

A report by Information is Beautiful revealed that white workers hold 60 per cent of the current technical roles in the industry, and black workers hold a minuscule one to two per cent.

Further sources found in 2016 that 26 per cent of Microsoft's employees were female, and 30 per cent of YouTube's were female. Nvidia's female population is a very small at 16 per cent. Sixteen per cent also represents the current number of female undergraduates in the UK studying a degree related to technology or engineering.

PwC additionally—perhaps more worryingly—found that only three per cent of females say a career in tech is their first choice. But why aren't there more women in tech jobs?

The space for men and women to lead innovative tech businesses exists. Workplaces are just not inspiring enough young women to strive towards these spaces.

Around 16 per cent of female students receive advice to pursue a career in technology, and 33 per cent of males.

And of course, while 78 per cent can't name a famous female techy, we all know of Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos. All of them male. Most of them white.

So it's unsurprising that males turn to tech for a career when an abundance of successful men inhabit the industry. It's also unsurprising that women remain reluctant to enter an industry in which most of their peers will be men.

So, what should tech companies do to promote diversity?

Technology companies must do better work with schools

Technology companies want to improve the world. To automate mundane tasks, make life safer, healthier, more interesting. Tech companies must engage with education systems to teach students at a young age that technology is helping lives. By building skills such as IT at a young school age, tech companies can level the playing field of future talent pipelines and begin to debug the white-male-dominated industry.

Interestingly, the UK's Office for National Statistics found in 2016 that 98.9 per cent of women aged 16-44 had used the internet in the last three months during the time of their research. The number of men was slightly lower, 98.6 per cent. Since women use technology more than men, their views and ideas about technology need increased representation in the design and implementation processes.

Tech companies must create more opportunities for graduates

Think apprenticeships and industry placements. Tech firms must market to women and ethnic minorities that their ideas, their perspectives, and their persons are valuable to the growth of all sectors in the industry.

Inviting women to speak at universities, for example, would enable students to ask questions about the careers they want to pursue.

Ensure equal pay

Mercer found (in a study of 66,000 tech employees) that men in tech jobs in the UK earn around 25 per cent more money than women. The average gap in the UK across all industries is 18 per cent. Their analysis discovered that once junior employees become mid-level professionals, men hold around 75 per cent of the roles (up from 51 per cent).

However, men and women ranked equally in terms of performance in the study. It's clear that tech firms must do more to offer progression to female employees who are already working in technology jobs, including equal pay and equal promotion opportunities.

Diversify and widen your recruitment strategy

By closing the pay and progression gap, women will obviously find jobs in tech more appealing.

But businesses need to do more to find candidates who are female and/or from ethnic minority backgrounds. Microsoft are rewarding its hiring managers for successfully increasing the diversity of their workforce.

Celebrate diversity

Inclusion is an issue for everyone to tackle. A diverse workforce is, after all, more likely to identify bugs and blind spots in a user's experience of a product. Companies must invest in marketing the hiring and success of their diverse workforce.

Tech companies have enormous platforms and forward-thinking customer communities. It's time they let their diverse workers stand on these platforms and thrive.