We are more than happy to announce a new partnership with Avanade, the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences on the Microsoft ecosystem, and the power behind the Accenture Microsoft Business Group.
status quo analysis of gender diversity in STEM fields
Diversity plays a very important role in the technology industry, as it allows companies to create innovative and more thoughtful products that will benefit our entire society and not just some part of it. However, the tech industry is currently experiencing a shortage of female professionals, which is affecting the performance and success of many companies.
Moreover, recent studies have also stated that there is a correlation between team diversity and the likelihood of successful financial performance of companies.
Over the past 50 years, women have increased their participation in nearly every STEM field, but they remain underrepresented in the IT field and do not have the same career opportunities as their male counterparts. As the table below shows, when evaluating diversity and inclusion in the IT field, men tend to look at it more optimistically than women, although the reality is not so cheerful. It is therefore important for companies to be more outspoken about the gender gap in the IT industry in order to address it and turn all stakeholders into allies.
"When people think about why it is important to have a diversity of talent in a field, they think of it as a nicety. No, it’s a necessity. We get better solutions."
Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space
To accelerate the transformation process, companies need to focus on inclusion programs that attract women to the STEM sector and continue to take care of their development and progress in retention. Mentoring is part of the solution, as having female leaders in IT can inspire young girls to work in the industry.
avanade’s contribution to diversity and inclusion in the STEM workspace
Avanade has made inclusion and diversity part of its strategy since its founding, aiming to bridge the diversity gap and support women working in STEM fields. For this reason, since 2015, the company has been offering scholarships and educational programmes for young women interested in careers in STEM fields. Furthermore, Avanade engages in other activities celebrating diversity and inclusion, such as having a leadership program for women and granting employees with their Diversity Award and Women & Diversity Role Model Award. Throughout all initiatives, the goal for Avanade is giving women a network to exchange ideas and challenges.
In 2020, Hallam Sargeant joined Avanade as the first director of DEI; and together with Avanade’s first female CEO, Pam Maynard, helped accelerate progress at the company.
"Women change teams. Fundamentally. As soon as a woman joins a team, behaviour and above all, respect changes - not only towards women in the team, but towards everyone. I have been observing this for over 20 years."
Christiane Noll, Country Manager Austria, Avanade
Avanade’s inclusion and diversity strategy is based on three concepts:
inclusiveness: ensuring that all people feel respected, heard and that they can do their best work.
diversity: ensuring that the demographics of our workforce reflect our customers and communities.
belonging: ensuring that everyone at work can be themselves and feel welcomed and valued.
However, the company does not plan to stop there; its goal is a 50:50 ratio of gender representation in the workplace, and they are on a very good path toward achieving it in the coming years.
The female factor, in turn, supports Avanade by helping to find high-potential women to join the team and then providing them with opportunities to develop further. Such collaboration has a positive impact on retaining female employees, and, since the IT sector is particularly affected by the lack of successful female role models, finding and supporting them is a priority for Avanade.
"We are excited to support Avanade in reaching its goal of gender parity in the workplace and look forward to building a great pipeline of female talent together with them", explains Mahdis Gharaei, co-founder & CEO of the female factor.
Together, Avanade and the female factor are actively working to increase inclusion and diversity in the IT sector, including consideration of all races, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion - all people at all stages of life.
Sounds like Avanade would be a great place to work for you?
Check out their current job openings here: https://bit.ly/avanade_opp
about our partner.
Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences on the Microsoft ecosystem, and the power behind the Accenture Microsoft Business Group.
Christiane Noll has been Country Manager of Avanade Austria since October 2016. Her focus is on supporting customers in their digital transformation with IT solutions and consulting and the associated team expansion. She sees digital transformation as a decisive competitive advantage for companies in Austria and accompanies them on their journey to the digital enterprise together with her team.