“Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance,” Verna Myers, a leading diversity and inclusion expert.
Employing more women in an organisation doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be assigned to higher positions. It goes deeper than that as women tend to face barriers such as gender bias, unequal growth opportunities, pay disparity, lack of representation and work-life balance challenges.
They also tend to be judged on external factors such as ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion and learning abilities among others. This holds women back from scaling in their careers, earning a higher income and being able to provide financially for their families. Being undervalued and overlooked also hinders their progress and performance and makes it harder for women to get promoted or even recognition.
This happens quite often due to unconscious biases which many people are not even aware of. These are subconscious, automatic thoughts and feelings that help us make sense of the world around us. We make decisions based on our perspectives which influences how we perceive and interact with others. This can potentially lead to managers treating employees differently or unfairly which impacts hiring, promoting, performance evaluations and assigning tasks.
Gender bias and stereotyping are two main barriers that hold women back in the tech industry. From a young age, girls are not encouraged to pursue an interest in STEM. They are often pushed to consider careers such as nursing, social work or teaching. If women do consider working in the tech industry, they are faced with more challenges than men do. These biases are often based on past experiences and society’s beliefs about women.
Gender biases can be very subtle and many people may not be aware of their subconscious biases. An example of these biases is forming an opinion against a black woman who wears a hijab, has an accent and comes from a different socio-economic background. Another example is an LGBTQ+ woman with a physical disability who may be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation, limitations and low income.
Society, for many years, has placed higher expectations on women in the workplace who often have to juggle work and family commitments. It eventually takes a toll on them as it impacts their performance, productivity and well-being. Many women believe they have to work harder, work longer hours and deal with employees’ problems on their own as it is commonly known that women have a more nurturing side. Women have innovative ideas and a different perspective which can be an added advantage to the organisation.
These challenges can be overcome if organisations desire to make the change and build inclusive cultures in the workplace. Involving male colleagues as allies can also help reduce discriminatory behaviors and various forms of harassment which will eliminate hostile working environments. This includes using sexist words or phrases against women. Building inclusive work places will help boost respect for one another, acceptance of different perspectives and foster healthier working relationships.
There are many global organisations who have taken the initiative and embraced diversity and inclusiveness in their daily practices. But more work needs to be done by increasing activities that will boost inclusiveness. For example – policies could include a recruitment drive to hire more qualified people of colour in the blue collar sector. This will enhance their opportunities for growth and help increase retention rates.
Another way is to raise awareness of the gender equality and digital gap. Educating people on discriminatory behaviours, reframing negative beliefs held about women that hinders their progress as well as changing language used in job applications to reduce unbiased hiring practices.
Encouraging women and young girls to take up careers in the tech industry and promoting them to senior leadership roles will also go a long way to breaking down these barriers. Partnering them with mentors who will support and guide them as they may feel alone, struggle with low self-confidence or even imposter syndrome, especially in male dominated industries.
The above challenges, barriers and beliefs can be addressed by organisations by providing comprehensive in-house training programs on unconscious biases which will help foster deeper relationships as well as build a more inclusive work environment. They can also create inclusive policies, have transparent practices and foster supportive environments to ensure women can thrive in tech fields.
LeanIn.Org a non-profit organisation focuses on inspiring and supporting women to help them achieve their goals. They provide training around unconscious biases as ‘our brains take in more information than they can process, so we rely on mental shortcuts to simplify the world’. Read more here.
Business Leaders can help build an inclusive culture by training and empowering their HR team, who recruit, train and support all employees. By delving deeper into sub-conscious biases the training will pave the way for them to learn more about their own biases and develop a more just and fair recruitment process.
For example, we accept that men are leaders but when a woman leads we think of them as ‘bossy’ and not assertive like men. Or we tend to praise men for their accomplishments whilst we down play a woman’s achievements and focus on their mistakes. We also tend to gravitate towards people who look and sound like us and have the same beliefs and background. Maternal bias is another challenge for women of child bearing years. They are often discriminated against as employers tend to think that they are less committed and less competent so they don’t invest in them.
So what can we do to encourage business leaders to combat stereotyping, create inclusive work environments and hire more talented people from diverse backgrounds?
The recruitment process is the first step an organisation takes to attract, recruit and onboard new employees. The company already has internal data to hand and can use this to assess the number of employees they hired in a given year. They can break down the employee data into sub groups which will include ethnicity, gender, race, age, educational status, sexuality, religion, learning abilities etc.
An organisation can also:
- Ask new employees for feedback regarding their shortlisting to the onboarding process. Often, new employees are left to ‘get on with it’ without any support to help them settle into their role. This will help highlight gaps in their recruitment process or even opportunities within the organisation.
- Ensure that their website content, job descriptions and application forms include language and images that are inclusive and be easily accessed by people with visual or learning disabilities.
- Ensure their interviewing panel consists of people from diverse backgrounds and include questions that are free from discrimination and bias which will help candidates feel comfortable and have a sense of psychological safety.
- Build partnerships with new groups of people such as high schools, colleges and universities in other countries who have candidates that they may like to recruit in the future.
- Encourage their HR team to join global networks, associations and social media groups who focus on diversity and inclusiveness to boost knowledge and foster peer to peer relationships.
- Hire a Diversity and Inclusion Coach who will train their HR team on unconscious biases so that they can identify their own biases, reframe self-limiting beliefs they hold about women and improve their leadership style to boost retention, engagement and morale in their teams.
- Use blind CV screening processes where all names are removed from the process or use skill-based assessments to screen candidates to ensure all candidates are given a fair chance.
In conclusion, creating a truly inclusive tech industry requires more than just intent—it demands action, accountability, and continuous reflection. By challenging unconscious biases and championing gender equality, we can unlock the full potential of women in leadership from diverse backgrounds. The future of technology depends on embracing every voice, especially those that have been historically underrepresented.
Meet author, Nazlee Mayhew, Founder of Global Mindset Solutions. She is also a certified Life Coach with the Academy of Modern Psychology, Scotland and a certified Business and Mindset Coach, Money Mindset Coach, NLP Practitioner and Self Love Coach with the Clique Academy, United Kingdom. She is also a Microsoft Lead Trainer for women in digital skills.
She partners with emerging and mid-senior level leaders to help them define their leadership style, identify their strengths and leverage the power of soft skills. She also empowers them to unlock their full potential, develop a success mindset to become effective leaders and build high performing and inclusive teams.
If you’re interested to learn more about her leadership coaching programs, book a free 30-minute coaching clarity call here: Calendly or email Nazlee at [email protected] to learn more and see if you’re a great fit to work together.
