Why Women Should be Filling Your Job Vacancies
Posted February 25th, 2015
The field of IT has a problem hiring women. There is no way to deny it. Just consider that only 24 percent of the IT workforce in the U.S. is female according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even worse, that is actually down from a historic high of 36 percent in 1991. Women are also underrepresented on the boards of tech companies compared to the average for S&P 500 companies.
The causes of this huge gender disparity are complicated and open to debate. But what is really important is the solution. Anyone with an ounce of foresight will tell you that innovation and diversity are intimately linked. That means that companies, industries, and the entire IT field as whole need to get serious about recruiting more women. Here are four strategies that can help:
Change the Culture
For many, diversity is little more than a sentimental buzzword that reflects an ideal rather than a reality. But if recruiting women is ever going to be come a priority, that attitude needs to change. Diversity must be seen as something that directly affects the bottom line in a positive way and creates strategic opportunities over the long term.
Focus Recruitment Efforts
Actively recruiting more women means focusing recruitment both inside and outside of the organization. From inside, companies can set up mentoring programs, offer educational opportunities, and create support resources that enable more women to move into management positions. From the outside, companies can extend their reach into high schools and universities to funnel more young women into STEM fields.
Recruit With Women
Women feel more comfortable working for companies where women already make up a significant portion of the workforce and have decision making roles. Companies that want to attract women should enlist more female professionals in the recruitment process. They should also develop recruitment strategies designed to maintain workforce diversity as existing female employees leave.
Create Incentives
Offering benefits that relate directly to female professionals like extended maternity leave, and flexible work schedules/environments won’t just help you attract more female talent, but the top female talent. Plus, it should go without saying that compensation should be perfectly equal between men and women if you ever hope to have a diverse workforce.
Bringing more women into IT requires a proactive approach, but countless studies and mounds of empirical research suggest that the effort is worth it, and long overdue. Find the assistance you need to diversify your candidate pool by partnering with the recruiters at Bayside Solutions.
