Feminist approaches to structural change in tech

It's not the pipeline, It's the System. June 23rd is celebrated as 'International Women in Engineering Day" #INWED Sadly the harsh reality, engineering colleges in India produce the highest number of women in STEM graduates/engineers and many of them actually do make it to the workforce. The real challenge is their retention and progression. With 2+ decades in tech and now consulting for tech companies on their Gender Equity Strategy, I’ve seen this challenge firsthand. The issue isn’t talent availability, it’s systemic. In most households, a woman’s career is still seen as optional. That mindset and bias bleeds into workplaces, shaping how women are hired, retained, and promoted. So what can organisations do, 1. Relook at org culture and design. Are your systems, policies, and leadership norms built equitably to support who stays, rises and how. 2. Representation matters, especially in especially in mid and senior levels, invest in retention and have hiring goals across grades. 3. Move from gendered to gender neutral policies. Eg. Maternity to Parental Leave Policy that supports all care-givers. Reframe workplace policies from “women-centric benefits” to equitable caregiving support that normalise shared responsibility and reduce bias. 4. Women in Tech Returnee programs - I've seen immense success in these programs, that offer companies experienced tech talent with a little investment. #Vapasi from Thoughtworks, #Spring from Publicis Sapient are two examples 5. Conduct Stay Interviews, Not Exit Interviews. Understand why women leave and what it takes for them to stay and grow and act on the inputs. 3. A Clear Career Progression Path with mentorship and sponsorship - Bias in growth opportunity for #WIT is real, if there is no intentional support to overcome these bias, talent walks away. 4. I Need to See More Like Me! There is a lack of role models. Accelerated Women in tech leadership programs, fast-tracking the leadership journey of high potential women are some ways to address this. 5. Collective Ownership. Gender Diversity in tech is not a HR, leadership or DEI responsibility. Make it the very fabric of the org. to drive shared accountability. 6. Data is not just diagnostic, it's directional. It guides us on investments to be made, unseen bias and where and what needs to change, it's your mirror don't ignore it. #Inclusion is a organisational capability and leaders are it's torch bearers. Their actions, direction and decisions every single day, signal what truly matters. The Women in tech, talent pool exists. The question is, are you ready to retain, grow, and lead with them? #WomenInTech #WIT #GenderEquity #DiversityInTech Diversity Simplified Image description: A newspaper article titled “It’s Not the Pipeline, It’s the System” from Times of India, Bangalore edition which highlights the gender gap in engineering.

Women are paid less because they choose easier jobs. They lack the ambition to reach the top. I have heard this so many times. In my 30 years of HR experience I say what utter rubbish. The reality? Women are taking on complex roles and leadership positions. Systemic barriers totally slow their progress. The raw data exposes this myth: ↳ 77¢ for every male $1 (WEF 2024) ↳ $172B lost in US GDP annually ↳ 2x slower promotion rate ↳ 28% of tech leadership roles women (McKinsey 2024) ↳ 54% of women report workplace bias (Deloitte 2024) ↳ 12% EU gender pay gap (Eurostat 2024) ↳ 8% in India, 22% gap in Japan (WEF 2024) But there's more to this story than just the problem. Here's the truth: Companies with equal pay crush it: ↳ 21% higher profits (McKinsey 2024) ↳ 27% better value creation (BCG) ↳ 40% higher revenue per employee So what's the solution? It's time for decisive action. 4 actions leaders must take: 1. Transparency 📊 ↳ Publish pay ranges ↳ Regular equity audits ↳ Ban salary history questions 2. Promotion Parity 📈 ↳ Track promotion velocity by gender ↳ Remove informal networks ↳ Set clear advancement criteria 3. Equal Opportunity 🎯 ↳ Standardise performance metrics ↳ Blind resume screening ↳ Mixed-gender interview panels 4. Structural Change ⚡ ↳ Equal parental leave ↳ Flexible work policies ↳ Leadership development programmes 5. Mentorship & Sponsorship 🌟 ↳ Formal mentoring programs ↳ Executive sponsorship matching ↳ Cross-functional networking events 6. Data-Driven Accountability 📱 ↳ Monthly pay gap reporting ↳ Diversity scorecards ↳ Third-party equity certification The math is simple: When women rise, everyone wins. Ready to drive real change?  💡 Comment with ONE action you'll implement this quarter. 🔄 Share this with a leader who needs to see it. Follow Hayden Swerling for more HR insights

A meager 2% of VC capital is invested in female-founded companies.  
Many people I know are working hard to highlight the funding gap between male and female-led companies, exploring the root causes, and proposing actionable solutions, including my colleagues, Teresa Wells, CFA Kate Nevin Lenore Champagne Beirne Research shows: 🚩Female-founded companies command only 7% of VC deal counts 🚩Teams with both male and female co-founders receive just 14.2% 🚩Only 2% of VC dollars were invested in female founded companies  🚩Women received just 11.4% of the total Small Business 504 Loans Yet: Rogue Women’s Fund Stats (as of 2020): Women led companies have 63% higher returns over 10 years period and invest up to 90% back to community and family. The Root Causes Identified: ➡️ Women are underrepresented in VC decision-making roles (just 11% of VC partners are women) ➡️ Childcare is unaffordable – 46% of women left jobs in 2021 for this reason ➡️ Women with higher VC positions in at male dominated firms protect their status by backing male biases ➡️ Gender stereotype and display of more feminine behavior (practicality) during pitches is viewed as lacking vision, while overinflated pitches and numbers are rewarded. Harvard Business School 2017 Pitch Study ➡️ Antiquated small business lending diligence biased against women. United States Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee 
 Proposed Strategies for Change:  ✅Raise awareness of the statistics above - go see the Show Her The Money documentary! ✅Get more women into VC investor roles  ✅Change the way diligence is done to address biases ✅ Create different fund structures that accommodate venture, private equity and debt ✅Promote networking opportunities through organizations like WOMEN IN TECH®- Global Movement @womenfundwomen ✅Help more women pursue careers in STEM and higher education 
Shoutout and thank you to the amazing women and their male allies who are doing this work and believe we can invest in the female operators to increase our global economy. #womeninbusiness #diversityinvc #venturecapital #privateequity #smb

Company: "we're diverse & inclusive" Me: *looking at their 5% female leadership team* It's giving... Red Flag 🚩🚩 Last year women in C-suite roles dropped 10%. (source: Forbes) I'm not concerned with pointing fingers. But I am concerned with good solutions. Here are 5 💡 1. Involve women in L&D initatives. Women should help design training curriculums. That focus on unique skills + knowledge gaps. Involve women in the process. 2. Conduct regular feedback Ask women about their values, obstacles & goals. Use surveys, 1-to-1s and written feedback. Act fast; make changes. 3. Offer flexible work formats Progression comes with more responsibility. But this COSTS parents (time & childcare) Install policies to mitigate burden. 4. Provide mentorship & training Invest in purpose-built female communities Create female-led mentorship schemes Fund confidence coaching. 5. Create equal opportunities Put women forward for leadership projects Include women in key decision-making Practise pay transparency. It's one thing to say you support D&I 👀 But it's another to stand up and take valuable action. 👏🏼👏🏼 P.S. Megan and I set up TRIBE to help women in tech accelerate their careers and rise to the top. Join our community: https://jointribe.club/

Recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve hung up my diversity activist hat — maybe temporarily, maybe for good — I’m more in the trust & safety and startup founder circles these days, but there was a moment at yesterday’s fireside chat with Julie Inman - Grant and Tazin Khan, hosted by Mike F. / Compiler News at Cornell Tech, that got me all fired up again. It was a question from a female CS student in the audience: Is this an issue of diversity and inclusion? You have to think that we wouldn’t have so many problems with abuse, on social media or with AI being misused and weaponized, if there were more women and marginalized people involved in building the tech, right? (paraphrased) Girl, I cannot begin to tell you. Yes, 100% yes. But it’s not just in the engineering and technical ranks. You can’t solve the problems of tech-facilitated violence, destruction of truth and democracy, and cryptocrap fraud by stuffing more women and minorities into tech teams as entry-level workers, even middle-management, sprinkling a few at the top for flavor. The failures of the tech industry today are due to structural issues with incentives that will keep leading us down bad paths unless we find structural interventions that change those incentives. Telling people they just need to slow down when all of capitalism is pushing them to move faster harder raise more money make more money get more users faster faster faster… that is futile. There are also pervasive DEI issues at the ecosystem level of tech investment and entrepreneurship. Still only 2% of VC money goes to female founders. Even if there are some of us around, we are simultaneously under capitalized and held to a higher standard in literally everything we do. Often, people don’t want to pay us for our expertise and services either. “If you care about this work, why don’t you do it for free?” We get DEI weaponized against us in spurious takedowns or baseless legal threats that we have to fight anyways (ask me how I know). So yes. Let’s get more women and URMs into engineering and into the tech industry, for sure. But there’s a lot more to do after that. When I have the time, energy, and most importantly, freedom to speak about my experiences as a female technical founder, I will have a LOT to say. Okay, so probably that DEI hat has only been hung up for the time being. I’ll be back.