Diversity and inclusion, a challenge for women in IT in Latin America

Note: I wrote this article originally in Spanish. As many of my colleagues and contacts are not fluent in Spanish, here's the English version - check instructions for voting at the end!

Today I am proud to be on the short list of # MUJERTIC2020.

 In this fourth special edition, it is very important to me to see that diversity and inclusion are becoming more and more significant as, for the first time, a position like mine is included – one that is not related to sales, marketing or partners.

I am honored to add this topic to the conversation, which should be a business priority in all companies and industries. I believe that there is still much to be done to spread the message of diversity and inclusion to reduce gaps and gender bias in the #IT industry.

Let me share some examples of how having a more diverse and inclusive team positively impacts business: according to McKinsey & Co, companies in the highest quartile for gender diversity are 21% more likely to have above-average financial results compared to others in its industry. According to a 2016 Forbes survey, companies agree that diversity results in more innovative ideas. Inclusive companies have 1.7 times greater capacity to become leaders in innovation in their markets (Bersin).

 A few months ago, Dell announced in its Social Impact Plan that, by 2030, fifty percent of its workforce will be women. This is not just to reach a gender quota, seeing as forty percent of these women must be at a managerial level. This demonstrates the hard work behind these goals, to push women's professional development and tackle gender biases from the foundations up through all levels. These are goals that we will achieve through different programs that are executed within the company.

Diversity and inclusion must be a business imperative. In Michael Dell's words: "Diversity and inclusion lead to innovation and growth, and are critical to long-term success in our company." In our D&I report from 2019 you can see all the initiatives we have, such as MARC- our foundational learning that will reach the totality of our employees in a few years, the 9 ERGs we have in Latin America, Women Development Program, among many other things.

One of the groups that are regularly underrepresented in IT positions are women. This means not only business losses but also a loss of role models for girls in future generations. Gender balance is not a women's problem, it is a business problem. We all must play a role in creating a world with a greater gender balance - wherever and whenever.

I want to highlight that within the digital especial edition on my extended profile, I included BrianKReaves as a mentor, as I have learned so much from him, and I will always be thankful for the opportunity he gave me to be part of the D&I team at Dell. 

We must have open and often times hard conversations in order to bring about this change, and leaders have to be open to this as well.

Please click here to vote for me! Help me a by sharing and commenting, the more reach, the more points! Make sure to always tag @ComunidadTICLatam and add the hashtags #MujerTICFavorita, #MujerTIC2020 and #RevistaTICLatam. #WomenAtDell

Here are the instructions to vote, as all the site is in Spanish:

• 1st page, hit siguiente (means next)
• 2nd page is register, add your info:

Nombre = Name | Apellido = Last Name | Empresa = Company | Telefono = Phone number | Correo electrónico = email | Ciudad = City | Pais = Country

 Hit siguiente

•  3rd page is the voting page, by alphabetical order. Look for my name and hit enviar = send

Thank you!