Listen to the woman

“I’ve got four words for you”, says Sidney (Wesley Snipes) to Billy (Woody Harrelson) in a 1992 movie called “White Men Can’t Jump”: “Listen. To. The. Woman”. The movie addresses ethnicity and gender biases through basketball, and ends with both main characters learning important lessons. Thirty years later, the corporate world is still learning about diversity, equity and inclusion. It has become increasingly clear that broad, binary categories like man/woman, white/black or gay/straight are reductive. To truly advance gender equality and leverage diversity for business success, we must embrace the complexity of intersectionality and fluidity.

And that’s what we are looking for as a business: results. We believe in diversity, equity and inclusion because it is the right thing to do. Because discrimination on account of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other cause is morally wrong. Because we believe we are all equal in our rights while diverse in our personal traits, ideas and histories.

We intentionally seek inclusion because it reflects our values and because we believe it truly enhances our organization. First, we need diversity because we design solutions for the whole world; that requires outlooks that can represent it as much as possible, with all its amazing richness. To do our job properly, we need to avoid as much bias and include as many outlooks as possible. Secondly, diversity feeds innovation; different voices and perspectives can help innovate methods, ideas and products. If you have blue paint, you’ll only be able to paint things blue; if you also have yellow and red, you’ll be able to paint almost any color. Diversity is not nice to have for corporations: it is an imperative.

Furthermore, diversity and inclusion policies are not binary issues; they aren’t just about white and black, male or female, old or young. We are intersectional in gender, ethnicity, capacities, age, etc. During this International Women’s Month, we need to stress the importance of thinking of women along with ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, education, ability, mobility, geography, etc.?

Women continue to be grossly underrepresented in the tech industry. Our slow progress was dramatically affected by the pandemic, the “great resignation” and what LeanIn and McKinsey describe as “the great breakup”, with women leaders stepping down and leaving a void of leadership for younger women.

As a company, we are proud to say that there is no gender pay gap at Globant. Yet, we are also aware that we must do much more than that to consistently attract, retain and develop the best talent. We must address women equitably, which means helping all of them to get what they need to succeed. And that starts by listening to their needs. At Globant we engage in DEI-oriented data analysis, behavioral science to see what programs and policies work for different audiences and we’ve conducted a +4,000-person survey to measure how the pandemic has impacted women in the tech industry. We also have specific programs like Back in the Game that help women return to the labor market in the IT industry, and She Leads to support future women leaders.

DEI is not a nice to have – it is an absolute must, in moral and in business terms. We actively seek women in all of their diversity, and that means we must continue to engage with all women, and listen to them with open minds. Sidney was close when he told Billy to “listen to the woman.” We need to listen to women.