International Women’s Day may not have been mainstream a decade ago, but now it’s a globally-recognised event. In the technology industry, in particular, women are still in the minority, and therefore this day is important for organisations to reconsider how they encourage women to apply for roles in their teams, and how they support them when they do. To learn more, we spoke to nine industry experts to hear how businesses can build a more gender-balanced workforce.

1. Promote female role models

“International Women’s Day is an ideal opportunity to reflect on the positive progress that is being made across the technology sector,” begins Anaïs Urlichs, Developer Advocate at Aqua Security, “but there is still work to be done. According to the Women in Tech Survey for 2023, only 25% of employees in the industry are women. Without female role models to emulate and inspire women and girls into considering a career in tech, this number is unlikely to increase.

“As a woman working within the industry, I try to set a positive example so younger girls can see this is an accessible profession for them. I volunteer as an ambassador for GirlCode, a global organisation dedicated to closing the gender gap, and I host my own YouTube Live series, She Can Cloud Native, where I invite women in the cloud native space to discuss the topics they are most passionate about.”

Samantha Humphries, Head of Security Strategy EMEA at Exabeam, agrees: “Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund once said, ‘You can't be what you can't see’ and that still very much stands. There is still so much more that needs to be done to highlight and uplift women in the technology industry - if a company wants diversity, they have to show it and actively strive for it, and when they do so it pays dividends.”

This is important across every industry, but some – such as the finance industry – are traditionally more male-dominated than others, as Hugh Scantlebury, CEO and Founder of Aqilla, explores:

“As of January, women made up 42% of seats in boardrooms among financial services firms, a big leap from 37% in June 2022! This is so important as career progression is key to encouraging and supporting the next generation. Young girls interested in maths and excited by the opportunities within the financial sector need visibility of women in senior leadership positions so that they have something to aspire to.”

2. Lead by example

However, the onus shouldn't only be on female employees to step up; senior leadership teams need to play their part too.

Dawn Broadbent, Sales Director – Account Management at Tax Systems, argues that “equity in the workplace is about allowing people to reach their potential regardless of diversity lens. It is about nurturing the right environment and culture that allows your employees to bring their whole self to the workplace. Leaders need to adopt a style that allows people the opportunity to speak up, give an opinion and ask for things that they need to push themselves to their highest potential.”

“Everyone at the company, regardless of gender identity, should work to create a space where individuals can express their worries and be heard,” adds Gal Helemski, Co-Founder and CTO of PlainID. “Senior management and executives should pay more attention to employees’ career paths to understand who they are and their goals for advancement within the company. Ultimately, I want all girls and young women to understand their infinite value and potential.”

3. Implement policies that support women

One of the responsibilities of leadership teams is to ensure their organisations have policies and initiatives that benefit women – as Exabeam’s Humphries explains, “It’s not enough to simply get women in the door, there needs to be resources and support in place that keep them there. For example, employee support groups, mentorship programs, initiatives such as menstrual and menopause policies, comprehensive medical insurance - the list goes on! We can’t simply keep copying and pasting the same HR policies that have been in place for decades; it’s time to adapt.”

And lots of businesses are already taking steps in the right direction, as Dominique Fougerat, EVP People & Culture at Axway, describes: “Just one way that we work to find more female talent is through the young female programs via partnerships with universities and high schools in countries where we have our R&D teams. By going into these educational settings and talking to girls and young women about careers in STEM, we encourage them to consider a technical career that they might not have considered before.

“It is also vital that we support the women who are already in the industry. We maintain equity in pay and, whenever our female employees have children, we offer more flexibility in working time to ensure they can balance the modern reality of being a working mother.”

Similarly, Dr Shirley Knowles, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at Progress, details what her organisation is doing to make an impact: “[Our] Women in STEM scholarship series was launched in 2019 with the founding of the ‘Progress Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM’ in the US, a $10,000 four-year renewable scholarship for a Massachusetts woman. The initiative has continued to expand, and in 2021 we introduced the Akanksha Scholarship for Women in STEM in India. I would encourage every organisation to consider what they can do to close the gender gap in STEM, and take action.”

4. Ensure remote working works for all

Businesses need to look at how their working practices could be updated to enable more women to work for them. Tax Systems’ Broadbent believes the rise in remote working is a great benefit, but must be closely monitored to ensure it doesn’t lead to burnout:

“I personally love to see how the dynamic of remote working has created balance between working families, enabling both parents to be accessible to their children and to create better and more flexible working patterns. However, we should not underestimate the added commitment that remote working is bringing as employees work hard to fit all their working and domestic responsibilities into their day.”

Sherrie Fernandes, Vice President of Product Management and User Experience at G-P, expands on this, acknowledging that “on the one hand, remote work has the potential to offer much greater flexibility for the millions of female workers who also have wider family commitments. On the flipside, working from home removes the separation between work and family.

“My advice for women in this situation is to carve out time for yourself, and set boundaries. The point is, if you’re never prioritising yourself, it’ll negatively affect everything - take time for yourself.”

5. Encourage female employees to believe in themselves

It’s crucial that, ultimately, women see their value, and aren’t put off by male-dominated environments. As PlainID’s Helemski emphasises: “It is well known that varied viewpoints fosters better innovation, which is at the heart of the STEM industry. When team members exhibit the same behaviours and appearance, end users may not discover distinctive or superior solutions.”

“Whilst there is still a lot that businesses can be doing to close the gender gap, I think that one of the biggest obstacles women face is a lack of self-belief,” concludes Sandra Espinoza Avalos, Senior Sales Engineer at Commvault. “Many don’t think that they can conquer big challenges that they may face in senior positions, but I know that women are more than capable of taking on difficult positions, tasks, and responsibilities. Self-belief is a major factor for success. When I face a challenging situation, I tell myself ‘this can't be impossible’. With consistency and perseverance, anything can be achieved. The sky's the limit!”