How a focus on soft skills can help advance female tech workers
Female-identifying tech professionals around the globe are demanding better learning and development opportunities. And if leaders at your company aren’t willing to listen, new data shows these talented women are ready to find an employer that will.
As the head of people for an enterprise tech company, I’ve seen firsthand that investing in learning and development benefits all, but targeting these investments to meet the needs of women in tech? That’s been vital to our ability to retain top talent.
It requires an open ear to feedback, an open mind to data, and an open heart to change. Leaders in tech are responsible for answering the demands of the historically underrepresented voice of women in technology.
Keeping an ear open to feedback is something my organization values—so much so that we’ve been publishing data on the experiences of women working in the tech industry since 2019. In my role, this information is incredibly illuminating, if at times concerning.
This year, 60% of women in tech roles in the US said they’d been told a lack of training or skills is holding them back—along with 76% of women in similar roles in India and 45% in the U.K. What’s more, women in the US and India say training and development is the number one non-compensation factor they would look for in a company while looking for a new job. Considering the data also shows women in all three countries find the training and development opportunities at their current employer lacking, we have what looks like a completely avoidable exodus of talented women in tech.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Many opportunities exist for leaders to build more supportive development programs for women in tech. Making these investments can improve retention, drive recruitment, and, most importantly, give women in technology the resources they need to thrive.
Continue reading: https://qz.com/3-tactics-to-break-barriers-for-women-in-tech-1850242733