Balancing gender bias in tech is key to driving progress in society

Michael Voegele, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Philip Morris International, argues that tech leaders have a duty to create inclusive workplaces that empower women

Despite the adversities we've faced living through COVID-19, technology has stepped up to play a more prominent role than ever.

Without a doubt, our daily routines and interactions with others—hamstrung by the constraints of lockdowns and social distancing—would be impossible without the technology we now rely upon so heavily.

Businesses are pivoting to this pandemic-driven digital shift. While digital transformations were already a priority pre-COVID, a recent BCG survey revealed 80 percent of respondents across industries planned to accelerate the process.

But the pandemic has also raised awareness that a digital transformation will only reflect and return what is inputted in by its creators and engineers. In a male-dominated field, it follows that gender bias—however subconscious—is built into many of our tech systems and platforms from their inception, for example, in AI there is evidence of gender bias in predictive algorithms.

But change is accelerating here as well, as leaders wake up to the value of inclusion and diversity in developing better systems for the whole of society.

Business leaders, particularly those of us in tech like myself, are working in earnest to achieve greater gender balance in our teams to maximize the potential of their digital offerings, recognizing that broader inputs naturally lead to a broader appeal.

Empowering women to pursue careers in STEM

Within the tech sector particularly, we need to do more to encourage young women to join the field. Unfortunately, the ratio of women-to-men in tech roles has declined over the past 35 years, according to a report by Accenture and Girls Who Code. At present, women represent just over 34 per cent of the workforce at the five largest global tech companies a - figure similar to the number of female university graduates in the subject.

Clearly, there's a critical role for society in closing this gap, by eradicating stereotypes and bias—and encouraging more women to pursue interests, studies, and careers in STEM fields.

To accelerate this change, IT and tech leaders have a duty to create inclusive workplaces that empower women—providing them with the skills and resources for success. We need to establish environments that celebrate female role models, and encourage women to speak up, share their ideas, unleash their creativity, and bring their best selves to work.

Purpose inspires women in tech

The nature of an organization's business purpose is also a critical factor. For instance, many women are inspired to join the tech industry to help achieve a better world. For a company like Philip Morris International (PMI)—which has transformed into a science and technology-led company committed to the purpose of delivering a smoke-free future—this is an encouraging sign as we need to create better gender balance across our IT teams.

We recognize that we need to move and achieve greater gender balance in our IT and technology functions—not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the only way to meet the demands of our diverse consumers. To successfully reach our objective of a smoke-free future, it's critical our technologies are developed and updated by diverse people, for diverse people.

Without this balance, how can we expect to drive the innovation required to be truly consumer-centric? How can we reflect the full diversity of the adult men and women who smoke? How can we efficiently and effectively ensure science-based smoke-free products reach every adult smoker who would otherwise continue to smoke?

By recognizing the science and technology required to drive positive societal change, it's our hope that more women in tech will be inspired to help us achieve our vision of a smoke-free future.

After all, a world without cigarettes can only be realized by an organization that reflects everyone in society.

Computing's Women in Tech Festival Global will be held on the 22nd and 23rd of November 2021.