No news here - it is still more challenging to be a woman in tech than a man in tech!

There were many eye opening statistics and data shared in the two day conference. Many are the reasons for why you don't see as many women in tech and especially in leadership positions.

Did you know …

1. 50% of women in tech roles leave them by the age of 35, typically at the halfway point of their careers -?according to joint report by Accenture and Girls Who Code?

There are many reasons why that happened - women might feel stalled in their careers, or companies are not accommodating flexible work schedules and remote work. Even think back to Covid time, when according to Guardian, "women were more likely than men to report forgoing paid employment to care for others. In March 2020, the ratio for women to men was 1.8 but by September 2021 it had increased to almost 2.4"

One of the reasons was addressed at the conference in fullest -?women are not finding their workplace inclusive enough. Companies can help combat it by creating a much more inclusive culture. "…?An inclusive culture—one that is not only diverse on paper, but that enables everyone to have a voice." To achieve that companies have to create measurable metrics concentrated on inclusion and diversity, otherwise unconscious bias might prevail when hiring. And I am not talking about giving the role to women based on their gender, but about widening the talent pool enough to find the diverse and qualified talent outside of the norm.

Do you want to share the responsibility and help out to reduce the gender gap?- Help Out where it starts - getting more women in STEM to begin with. "Women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics." We can contribute by volunteering and donating to non - profits that are helping to reduce that gap and inspire women and girls around the world, like Girls Who Code, Women In Tech, or many others.

2. You won't see as many women founders perhaps due the phenomena called "mirror-tocracy"

In her Funding The Future talk, Janneke Niessen, founder and CEO of CapitaIT, shared that VCs tend to invest in founders that are closely resemble them in similar demographics looks and background, so called "mirror-tocracy". Here are the criteria they might be looking at:

1. White old man
2. Serial entrepreneur
3. Good university
4. Operating experience with big Tech Companies?
5. Similar networks

To make things more complicated, imagine as a female founder you have gone through the process and got an interview with the VCs. During the interview you will get asked a lot of family related questions: whether you are married or not, have kids or when are you expecting to have kids, etc. In addition, women get backwards questions on their failures, while men get forward looking questions.

So should all the female founders just give up then? NO, female founders can still control things they can control. They can prepare for all the no's and focus their great ambition and passion for the long term. As Janneke said,?"it is important to have Perseverance, GRIT, and Passion"

And just like when receiving backwards looking question, you can change your response towards a forward looking one; you can focus on your future through expanding your networks and building your brand.

And speaking of building your brand, Rachel Pipan, Founder and Managing Director of Maneuvre, recommended to work on your Personal Brand and work on it NOW.?In her talk, "What Works For A Fintech Bro Won’t Work For You: Using PR As A Female Founder", she has shared that men pivot earlier to working on their business. They reach out to other people in their network constantly; write posts/publications, and speak in conferences.? While women wait to establish the brand and their foundation, before they speak, reach out, etc.?Funnily enough we might be just as successful as "FinTech bros", but we wait to tick all the boxes.?

There is a difference between being bad at PR and bad at representing your brand. So start collecting all the wins and put it out there for the world to see - your internal Slack Channel, LinkedIn, your website, as "Visibility is earned not received."

Her advice - "Start (representing your brand) now, Start Early, A little bit is better than nothing!"

3. 70% of women in tech, still feel like they need to work harder and prove themselves because of their gender, Web Summit 2022.

Elizabeth Theophille, CEO of EHT Consulting GmbH and the former Chief Technology Transformation Officer at Novartis, spoke to this topic in her inspiring talk How To Prepare Yourself For Big Career Decisions.?

Working across different countries and different industries is not an easy task,?and Elizabeth maneuvered it with a lot of grace and strong execution. She shared how women moving through their career trajectory experience feelings of ambivalence and feel torn over decisions. Within her session she discussed how to embrace those feelings, prepare ourselves for tough decisions and ultimately gain the ability to point ourselves in the right direction.

For your next career move she suggest asking yourself these three questions:

1. Who has deprioritised own ambition?
2. Who is putting off a career decision?
3. Who is letting fear stifle fulfillment?

If you answered "I did/am" to any of these, it is time for you to take the first step forward, rethink your career and next steps. Feeling fear, doubt, or "impostor syndrome" is normal. Women don't apply to the next role unless they feel 100% qualified, while men just go for it with 60% criteria met. So make that leap and push apply.?Elizabeth recommended these 5 tips to combat those feelings:

Maite Zubiaurre, Chief Product Officer of Bol, was also very authentic on sharing her career journey. From her breakfast conversations with her Dad about the products to board room discussions, Maite was always “Approaching (her) career as you would approach your product.”?It wasn't always easy, but she remained curious and open to new opportunities.

And that's what she recommended on stage as a keynote speaker - “You can do it and you should do it.” When Maite was offered a job as a board director and CPO of bol.com, she also had feelings of ambivalence and feel torn over decisions, but she said to herself "Fear is not going away, so embrace it"

So maybe we should all take the advice of these great women and embrace the fear!

If you want to discuss any of these topics further, message me on LinkedIn and let's talk!