How to attract and retain talented women in tech

Women still make up less than 20% of the tech workforce–despite earning around 50% of science and engineering degrees. And for those women who do work in tech, being in a male-dominated environment can be challenging–which in turn makes it challenging to retain female employees. 

So what can you do as a leader to improve the gender balance of your organisation?

1.    Improve the candidate experience

Start with your candidate experience and show women your company is a good place to work. Female representation on the interview panel will help, but you also need to rework your recruitment process to make sure it’s completely gender-neutral.

2.    Promote female-oriented policies

You’re probably well aware that flexible working and home working appeal particularly to women, but how’s your maternity pay? Do you ensure that women are paid the same salary as men in the same roles? Women are socialised to ask for less, so don’t expect them all to be as forward in asking for a raise as men.

3.    Create an inclusive work culture

The culture in a male-dominated workforce can be intimidating for women. Identify any issues in your culture and make sure women are represented on internal committees.

4.    Ensure equal opportunities are available

Make sure women receive equal training opportunities and equal consideration for promotion in your organisation. This will also help encourage junior women by showing them career progression is possible in your company. Which brings us to…

5.    Support the next generation

Make your business appealing to girls and young women by partnering with schools and universities, and offering mentorship or work experience programmes.