This blogpost is a guest article written by a participant of the Civic Tech Sisters program, Nadiia Omelchenko, Vice President of IT Integrator.
In a previous blog we analyzed the preconditions and objective causes of gender imbalance in the top management of IT companies of Ukraine. In our country, only 23% of all STEM employees are women. With each career step, the number of women decreases: and at the level of directors in technology, only 17% are women. In this situation, big business should take responsibility and maximize the development of women in technology. How exactly and what exactly should companies do? Let's analyze the activities of the IT-Integrator - one of the largest Ukrainian system integrators.
Women and girls in Ukraine have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was announced by the head of the UN Monitoring Mission for Human Rights in Ukraine Matilda Bogner. It is about increasing the responsibilities of caring for the household and children and reducing wages through the transition to online work. The Head of Mission noted that in some cases, public authorities themselves had been involved in discriminatory practices, which was a clear violation human rights. Are there any business biases against women? I'm sure they exist, especially for women leaders.
That is, it is really difficult for women in business. And that is why socially responsible companies must intensify their efforts to support women. In my opinion, innovative and modern companies must act proactively. I am sure that in the short run such actions will bring such companies very significant and tangible dividends.
Equal opportunities should be the standard
The ratio of women to men in the IT Integrator is 26% to 74%. That is, we still have a lot of work to do – the gender balance is still to be reached but we are working on it. Over the past 3 years, our company has been creating the most favorable conditions for gender equality and support for women in IT field. Analyzing the gender composition of the company's staff, we can conclude that in recent years we have been actively employing young girls with technical education. Comparing the number of women with men under the age of 30, the gender gap is only 18 percentage points.
After the start of quarantine in the spring of 2020, we have created equal conditions for women and men who do not have the opportunity to leave children under 12 with anyone at home. With a standard of 2 days for remote work per week, such employees can take more remote days. For many of our employees, this is a significant advantage.
The programs for the development of women's competencies in our company include the "Leadership School" program. In this program, women coaches and mentors conduct workshops and trainings for employees.
Every two years, IT-Integrator partially covers the expenses for young managers, including women, to study at the MIM Kyiv Business School. In the last group, which studied at a business school, there were 4 women out of 10 graduates.
IT Integrator saves all working conditions and jobs for women who have gone on maternity leave and plan to return to work. So, recently 5 women left the decree to work. Our company also supports women who are looking for work after maternity leave. Recruitment specialists offer such candidates vacant positions. In the last 2 years, we have hired up to 10 such candidates.
In 2018, IT-Integrator officially became the first woman-friendly technology company in Ukraine - received the "Best Company for Women" certificate from the STEM Technology Pact for Women initiative, which supports and develops women leaders in technology industries.
We systematically support corporate social activities that promote the development of women in the profession. For example, National Girls' Day in technology. On this day last year, we, together with other companies in the industry, held an open day for students of 8-10 grades. The purpose of this event is to stimulate their interest in science, IT, engineering and mathematics. This year's event, of course, took place online, but we also took part in it. Thanks to the fact that the event was online, more than 1,000 girls from 127 cities got acquainted with the top domestic technology companies, including IT Integrator. The event was organized by the Center for Corporate Social Responsibility Development and the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine - UNFPA Ukraine within the initiative #GirlsSTEM.
We also share all 7 Women Empowerment principles (WEPs) - a set of 7 principles to promote gender equality and empower women in the workplace, market and community. Currently, among the 3,600 signatory companies, only 5 are from Ukraine. I do not rule out that in the near future we will be able to join this undoubtedly important initiative.
What does it give to large business?
By investing in the development of women, any business shows its social responsibility. Such companies get more opportunities to attract highly qualified staff. For example, we recently looked for an engineer for one of the types of IT solutions - and on the recommendation we were able to find a woman in this position with the competencies we need. If we were looking for this stereotypically masculine position exclusively of men, we could continue to look further.
In addition, under such conditions companies can apply standards in the candidate evaluation system, regardless of gender. Thus, the promotion of women in the IT field gives an advantage over other companies - the use of the potential of employees regardless of gender to the fullest.
If you look more globally, a number of studies show that the smaller the difference in the ratio of men and women in the company, the more creative and successful it is. So if your company doesn't have a women's development ambassador in your industry yet, maybe it's time to find one?) I'm sure it will make your business more inclusive, progressive and socially responsible.