Diversity: The power of women in IT

Diversity - ranging from gender diversity to culture, age, and race—has fostered creativity and innovation. Organizations across industries are seeking to prioritize and benefit from a diverse and inclusive work environment. Despite the concerted efforts, women are still grossly underrepresented in the field of IT.

How big of an issue is it?  

The National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) released their 2020 annual By the Numbers report. To put it into perspective, 57% of all professional positions in the US were held by women, whereas only women held only 26% of computing positions in 2019.  The situation becomes dire when you look at women of color – only 3% of all computing roles were held by African American women, 7% by Asian women, and only 2% by Hispanic women. These statistics have held flat for at least the last six years. I am anxious for the 2021 report as I can only fear the impact COVID has on retention.  

Retaining employees – male or female – is just good business sense when considering both the obvious and hidden costs of a high rate of employee turnover. In a competitive business climate, retaining key employees is vital for the health of the company. When these key employees are women, many corporations and industries continue to be stumped to retain their valuable resources. The benefits of maintaining a women-friendly environment far outweigh the costs.  

The good news is, a few simple steps can vastly improve conditions for female employees. One of the steps that sound easy in concept but a challenge, in reality, is peer coaching.  Peer coaching is a working relationship where at least two people of equal status actively participate in helping each other on specific tasks or problems, with a mutual desire to be helpful. The coaching relies on a few assumptions:

1. The advice given is straightforward and candid to the point of brutal honesty with the understanding and trust that each member has the other's best interests at heart.  
2.  The advice offered is intended to benefit the peer's performance in the organization.
3. A shared understanding of the context and issues the other is facing is foundational to building trust.

The third point is the rub. Many women in IT organizations have very few to no female peers.  Yes, male peers are great about sharing technical or functional advice. It is simply impossible for them to share the context of what it means to be a woman in IT or a working mom. Thus the reason I created ITeffectivity's IT Women's Mastermind Group program. As a woman in IT, it took over 25 years before I had a female peer.  The joy and benefits were priceless. She is still a very dear mentor and friend today.  

What is a mastermind group?  

The definition of a mastermind group is straightforward: a group of peers who meet to give each other advice and support. A Mastermind Group intends that peers help each other solve problems and develop themselves together through input and advice from each other. The core value of a Mastermind Group is the synergy of energy, motivation, commitment, and the willingness to learn and grow together. The ITeffectivity IT Women Mastermind Group program was explicitly designed to proved women with access to peer coaching. My role as the group facilitator adds a layer of executive coaching to the conversation.

So I ask you, are you a woman leader in an IT middle management role? Or do you lead women in IT that you want to support their career growth? In either case, I encourage you to listen to the women who invested in the 2020 IT Women Mastermind Group share the value they found from participating.   

https://www.iteffectivity.com/project/women-mastermind-group/

 There is a new cohort scheduled to start in mid-April. Each cohort is capped at 8 participants and is already priced to be accessible.  To learn more, set up a discovery call using the link at the bottom of the landing page provided.

In honor of National Women's History month, I am offering a $100 fee reduction when you mention ITWOMEN2021 during March.

Please forward this opportunity to IT Women Managers. They and I will thank you. 

Have a great week, Mary

Wednesday Wisdoms sponsored by ITeffectivity.com – At ITeffectivity, we support the CIOs and their leadership team in bridging the gap between technology and business to enhance their strategic leadership, drive innovation, and alleviate the daily pressure from key stakeholders.