Technology sees progress in promoting women to executive roles, but it still lags behind other industries

[ad_1]

The overhaul puts the tech sector at the bottom for C-Series female executives.

Securities regulators have published the seventh annual review of women on boards of directors and executive officer positions. The review shows that women in boardrooms and in executive positions in technology are still not on par with their peers in other industries, such as retail and utilities.

The review shows that, compared to other industries, tech companies have the second lowest number of women on boards with 74%. By contrast, production boasts 95 percent.

The study found that 44% of respondents said they don’t believe tech companies want to hire women.

Things are no better in the executive suites. Technology comes in last place with 55% representation in the C-suites.

The good news is that those numbers have improved in the seven years the review has been underway. In the first year of the review, only 39 percent of the technology board members were women. Similarly, in the first year, 45% of women held executive positions.

The review covers executives in participating jurisdictions, which are Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan.

Among the findings is the highest percentage of companies with one or more women on their boards in the manufacturing, retail and utilities sectors. The lowest are in the tech, biotech and mining industries.

Similarly, the number of women in executive positions is highest in the retail, biotech, real estate and utilities sectors. The lowest percentage was found in the technology, mining, and oil and gas sectors.

The data was compiled from public documents filed on SEDAR and includes the name, industry and year end of the 599 non-venture issuers included in the review sample.

The review comes as no surprise as numerous studies have reported a lack of representation by both women and racialized women in Canadian societies.

Data from 2021 shows that a heterogeneous group of board members is still rare; “Very little progress” has been made for women at executive officer level and the numbers are dire for “visible minorities” and people with disabilities.

RELATED: An incomplete list of Canadian tech events, programs, and organizations that support women’s initiatives

SAP Canada released data in 2021 showing that nearly half of women in the Canadian tech industry reported their career growth and goals were stunted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was based on an online survey of 592 Canadian women who identify as professionals in tech and non-tech fields.

The study found that 44% of respondents said they don’t believe tech companies want to hire women.

SAP Canada found that the number of women reporting obstacles to career growth was higher in the technology sector than in other sectors. Forty-eight of the women in the tech industry reported this, compared to just 31% in other industries.

Jodi Kovitz, founder of #MoveTheDial, said in 2019 that “women continue to be largely underrepresented in the technology-focused workforce, especially in leadership positions.”

These latest findings were very much in line with the inequalities present for women of color in the Canadian tech industry.

Research from #MoveTheDial and Feminuity at the time indicated that women’s participation in the Canadian tech sector has stagnated over the past decade and that half of the women surveyed believed that tech companies didn’t want to hire them.

Not much had changed by 2021. The Prosperity Project and KPMG Canada released a report which revealed that 89 percent of respondents had no direct black women at the leadership level and 91 percent had no indigenous women.

According to the report, racialized women held 6.4% of female boardroom seats, 7.4% of female executive officer roles, and 11.5% of female executive officer-level roles.

These latest findings were very much in line with the inequalities present for women of color in the Canadian tech industry.

According to a 2020 report, out of 270 technology companies surveyed, the number of board posts held by indigenous peoples was only seven and the number of board posts held by people with disabilities was only six.

However, the data shows that having a diverse team leads to better overall returns.

This information has not gone unnoticed by the likes of many venture funds and women’s-focused organizations in Canada, two of which include StandUp Ventures and Diversio. The former secured just over $ 30 million in start-up capital in 2021 for his second fund after seeing early success by investing in startups led by women.

The company’s contention that focusing on women-led initiatives is a competitive advantage has been demonstrated in recent years with studies demonstrating the positive effect that investing in women and diversity can have both on a company’s bottom line. than on the general economy.

For its part, Diversio has a platform that measures, tracks and delivers solutions to enhance diversity and inclusion. The startup has a mission to help companies eliminate barriers to diversity and inclusion. It recently secured $ 8.13 million CAD to further develop its goal-oriented platform.

Unsplash image source. Photo by Christina @wocintechchat.

[ad_2]