What is Gender Parity?
Associated with gender equality, gender parity is a statistical measure that determines whether or not we are progressing or regressing towards gender equality. In the context of the technology industry, the proportional representation of women versus men in the field is often uneven and unequal.
Women in tech are a rarity. This has been largely due to gender roles and stereotypes placed on certain careers such as a career in technology.
For certain careers or fields of study, society associates a specific gender to that career. This involves assumptions being made and stereotyping based on what is considered feminine or masculine.
These assumptions and stereotypes reinforce culturally and socially determined characteristics of what it means to be a man or a woman.
In the context of the technology industry, IT services providers could and can proactively contribute to the positive progress of gender equality.
With International Women’s Day in mind, let us explore ways in which we can engage and proactively contribute to tech equity gender parity.
How do you contribute to Digital Inclusion?
Involving more than just equal pay and equal opportunity, digital inclusion involves equitable access to technology. This lack of access to technology and lack of opportunity for women to educate themselves on technology means that they are less likely to be involved or make an impact in the field.
Despite the increase in the number of women entering the field in recent years, women only make up about fourteen percent of leadership positions in tech worldwide. The absence of female role models in the field and societal conditioning continue to have a heavy effect on women in tech.
At the rate of progress we are making, it will take roughly another one hundred and twenty-five years before we reach full gender parity.
The goal of digital inclusion is to bridge the digital divide and ensure equal access to technology, resources, and training for all.
In order to maintain the growth that has been achieved in digital inclusion as well as continue said growth, Accelerated Action is needed.
With Worldwide Women’s Day in mind, Accelerated Action encourages you to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activities that positively impact women’s advancement.
Here are a few examples of what that could look like in the technology industry:
- Developing tech solutions for women-led businesses
- Developing tech that supports women’s empowerment initiatives
- Creating inclusive digital platforms
- Making technology easily accessible to all, including women
- Offering digital literacy training programs specifically designed to empower women
- Showcasing examples of successful partnerships with organizations that promote women’s advancements in tech
How IT Service Providers Can Influence Gender Parity
As shown above, the digital inclusion of women in tech is no small feat. However, IT services providers could be the key to the accelerated inclusion of women in tech.
With the bigger picture in mind, the inclusion of women in the discussion or keeping women at the forefront of business decisions could greatly impact not only their role in tech but the perception of IT in general.
The purpose of IT services providers is to save you time and money while moving your business forward with IT solutions. This could range from internet connectivity and managed networks to data center collocation and Office 365.
The purpose of these IT services is to provide 24/7 maintenance of day-to-day technical operations.
Partnering with IT service providers can assist in streamlining IT support, enhancing productivity, managing your network effectively, providing expert guidance, and being cost-effective.
To encourage digital transformation, a business strategy that modernizes and incorporates digital technology in all areas of a business, including products, organization processes, and operations, to enable customer-driven innovation, while also keeping in mind tech equity gender parity, here are a few suggestions.
- Promote women-owned businesses utilizing digital transformation
- Recognition from IT service providers can be a key stepping stone to improving brand awareness
- IT service providers can also help efficiently manage your network, saving you time
- Encourage tech solutions that promote inclusivity
- This could mean using simple language rather than big tech verbiage
- This could also involve solutions that make the technology more accessible
- Utilizing Cogent IBS in order to explore technological developments and solve business problems while staying inclusive
- Having an accessible and inclusive digital platform
- There is some creative freedom here as it involves the design and overall functionality of your business’ website
- The incorporation of social media could also be a chance to connect with the female audience more easily
- Offering digital literacy training programs
- The simple act of IT service providers offering up a class on IT basics could increase the presence of women in the field and assist in bringing a larger audience base to the conversation
- Showcasing successful partnerships with organizations focused on women’s advancements
- It is not just one day out of a year that women’s advancements should be promoted
- Whether on your business website or on social media, shout out to the women in IT so that they get the recognition they deserve
Suggestions to Empower Women in Tech
With the Accelerate Action in mind, groups and organizations can easily strategize and take steps to empower women in the technology industry. Promoting tech equity gender parity with activities and results that include:
- Recruiting, retaining, and developing diverse talent
- Supporting women in leadership roles to make informed business decisions
- Providing access to quality education and training in the technology field
- Promoting the creative and artistic talent of women
- Elevating women’s participation in careers notoriously associated with men
- Addressing social issues in the workplace that would normally deter women from that career
The goal is not only for technology to transform and develop with time but for women to play a role in that development and improvement in technology.
By implementing these strategies, the progression of gender parity will speed up. Enabling gender equality to become a reality sooner rather than later as well as involving more than just an increase in paychecks for women.
How can you Promote Gender Parity?
As it is often said in education, you should be constantly learning and constantly growing as an individual. There is always something new to learn. Whether that be as an artist or a tech genius. There are also no limits to what you can become.
The goal of gender parity is to continue the progress of gender equality and develop it even further.
As in the technology industry, where digital transformation intrinsically involves change and modernization, gender parity requires constant innovation and dedication to improvement.
IT service providers can be especially influential within the technology industry, utilizing training programs, digital platforms, promotions, partnerships, and tech solutions in order to empower, promote, and encourage women in tech.
Start today by partnering with IT service providers to improve your business’s efficiency, save money, and promote gender parity.
Watch your business’s brand awareness improve as you encourage the growth and development of gender equality.
At CogentIBS, we recognize the innovations that have been achieved by women in tech. Reach out to us to experience the best tech solutions!