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The diversity dilemmaAttracting and retaining talented women in technology-based careers
Paula Ngov
John Sullivan
Over half the population is female yet,
“Only 1 in 4 workers in Australia’s
ICT industry is female”
DiversityIs not - A quota, ratios or numbers game.
It is - Using differences in thinking, gender, and socioeconomic stratum together to create multi-
cultural and diverse teams, which think better, work better and create better outcomes.
It’s all about teamsAgile is believing in continual improvement,
it’s a process.
Why diverse teams?
● Top companies with women on boards perform better
○ Better collaboration○ Intelligence, innovation and
creativeness increases○ Find, and solve more problems
● Women control more than 65% of spending
Shortage
?● Generally less people
studying, even less in IT○ 2002 - last year ~50% less
enrollments○ Only 30% the number of
women
● Less women in the workforce
Shortage?
● Few company policies explicitly help women return to work
● We typically hire individuals for their skills, not for team culture
Shortage?
● Career changes ● ‘Bossy’ syndrome● Pervasiveness of
technology, doesn’t get the credit it deserves
● Career advice limitations
So what can we do?
Culture● Cross-skill, upskill ● Internal communication● Internal women advocates
Culture● Unpack ‘bossy’ syndrome● Team skills over functional
skills● Create a culture that
supports those teams
Keeping talent
● WGEA - Workplace Gender Equality Agency○ Check out PDF online
● Internal initiatives● Connect people to cause
Tactics● Measure and learn
○ Tracy Chou, Pinterest - @triketora
● Raise awareness internally
Ref: www.vogue.com
TacticsTweak your
language and find the right
mediums
TacticsTip the scales in favor of women
● Always interview women● You can go to market specifically for women
But● We don’t want revolving
doors● We need to increase the
pool ● Remember there is not
enough women choosing tech careers
Ref: Wikipedia, “Software Engineer”
Ref: myfuture.edu.au “Computer Engineer”
Talk us up
Ref: firstaustralia.org
Support
Encourage Role Models
Wrap-Up
![Derek H.T. Walker - QUT · The issue of attracting and retaining talented people was given substantial attention [3-5]. The third major theme raised in the BRW magazine was the influence](https://img.pdfslide.us/doc/110x75/5ed11606f09e826b3450d915/derek-ht-walker-qut-the-issue-of-attracting-and-retaining-talented-people-was.jpg)
