Women are taking the business world by storm, and companies in all industries are paying attention. This week we celebrate National Women in Business Week. It is a good time for the business community to reflect upon the progress that has been made – and the work that needs to continue – in uplifting women in business across all industries.
Business and Professional Women’s Foundation asserts that there are currently 7.2 million majority-owned, privately-held, women-owned businesses in the United States. These firms employ 7.3 million people and generate $1.1 trillion in sales. Yet, only twenty years ago it was still legal to require a woman to have a male co-signer before receiving a business loan. Clearly women have made improvements to their working conditions over the years.
For women balancing family and work, it is often challenging to convince employers they are choosing to take a seat at the table – they are choosing to be highly qualified professionals – they are choosing to do the work needed for the business to thrive.
According to Utah Business, four thousand tech jobs sit unfilled in the state of Utah, and women comprise only 23 percent of that workforce.
Clearly there is an opportunity to fill those vacancies with qualified female candidates and work to further close the employment equity gap in Utah.
But why should tech companies focus on hiring women? Shouldn’t the best candidate get the job regardless of gender? Tech companies who have been or are primarily staffed by men could benefit from women in leadership. Women present a different voice and perspective at the decision making table. The latest research by McKinsey & Company finds that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. Furthermore, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.
Despite the unfilled tech positions throughout Utah, companies in the Salt Lake area tech industry are leading the charge of embracing women in executive leadership positions. At the Silicon Slopes Summit in January 2018, 130 local companies signed the ParityPledge — a promise to interview at least one qualified woman for every open position, vice president or above.
Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO of Qualtrics, said in a news release that “ParityPledge is the right thing to do. It’s so easy to implement, any company of any size can commit to doing this. We need more women in tech and in leadership — it’s hard to achieve success if we are removing half of the playing field. ParityPledge will not only help us all to recruit but also to grow our leadership from within.”
But it takes more than companies signing a pledge to build and maintain a highly qualified female workforce for the tech industry. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, the Women’s Tech Council is a national organization bringing awareness to the tech industry of the benefits of having women in executive positions, and emphasising the importance of strong STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education from K-12 and beyond.
The Women Tech Council (WTC) is a national organization focused on the economic impact of women in driving high growth for the technology sector through developing programs that propel the economic pipeline from high school to the C-suite. WTC offers mentoring, visibility, opportunities and networking to more than 10,000 women and men working in technology to create business environments focused on high performance, not diversity, where men and women can succeed. This propels individual careers and the talent pipeline by ensuring a strong, diverse, and entrepreneurial technology workforce.
The Women’s Tech Council hosts an annual awards luncheon honoring women who have made significant impacts in the tech industry. This year marks their 11th awards program! Each woman being honored is a leader in our local Salt Lake City tech industry. It is inspiring to read each nominee’s biography and learn about their path to success.
In addition to the Women’s Tech Council Awards, Utah Business publishes a list of “30 Women to Watch” each spring. This list is not specific to tech jobs; rather, it is rich in industry diversity with bank executives, local government officials, higher education professionals, nonprofit leaders, and tech company executives. One of the 2017 honorees, Anita Grantham, Chief People Officer for Pluralsight, said in the Utah Business’ profile of her that,
“Gender issues are real. We see it all around us and it’s become more prevalent lately, especially in the tech community. What I have chosen to do is to focus on being the best at what I do. I encourage others, both male and female, to do the same. I value CEOs and other leaders who appreciate my work and the work of my coworkers, regardless of our gender. When I hire people in my role of chief people officer, I am most concerned about what skills they bring to the table, and I am optimistic that other business leaders feel the same way.”
As many of the “Women to Watch” attest, success in business starts with interest as youth. Programs that inspire young women to pursue tech industry careers, such as the Women’s Tech Council Student Innovators program or STEM Action Center Utah’s Girls Who Code Club are vital to creating interest and enthusiasm for tech industry careers. Young women with strong tech skills, who also have a passion for the work are more likely to pursue higher education in at technology field, making it possible for them to one day be recognized as a “Woman to Watch” in the tech sector.
This week, as we celebrate National Women in Business week, we are grateful the Women’s Tech Council and Utah Business are taking active roles in recognizing successful female business leaders here in the Silicon Slopes. We hope more companies will join in singing the ParityPledge and commit to engaging and inspiring a workforce rich in gender diversity, with more women serving in executive positions.
Salt Lake Staffing is your partner in recruiting and staffing women in important tech industry positions. If you are looking to diversify your leadership, or workforce in general, let us help you find the best candidates. Our hands-on approach to screening and getting to know our candidates ensures we not only find you great talent, but talent that will match your company’s unique culture.
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