The Tops and Flops of organizations in their efforts to promote gender diversity in Tech was the theme of a conference organised by the WoGiTech collective at the 2023 edition of VivaTech. Here’s a quick summary of what was said…
1️⃣ Air Liquide, Julien VALLETTE VIALLARD
Air Liquide Group places equality for women in tech on the same level as company performance.
Flop 👉 Having as many female and male candidates but choosing a man when recruiting.
Top 👉 Balance the number of women in management positions.
Tip ➡️ Rewrite job adverts to appeal to women as well (Eliminate bias, increase CVs by 25%).
Tip ➡️ This issue should be addressed by both men and women!
2️⃣ Soft Kids / Digital Ladies & Allies, Solenne BOCQUILLON- LE GOAZIOU
She had 70% women in her international teams when she was HR Director and she realised that in France that wasn’t yet the case!
Flop 👉 #Amazon algorithms that favour men more.
Top 👉 Asking for a percentage of women in teams and linking it to performance bonuses => 40% women on its management committees.
Tip ➡️ We’re all someone’s role model.
Tip ➡️ Women need to speak out and be more visible.
3️⃣ Simplon.co, Frédéric BARDEAU
Simplon.co trains 40% women.
Flop 👉 Simplon didn’t make trainers or partners aware of gender issues.
Top 👉 Train the entire value chain (manager, HR, Pôle Emploi), non-mixity to free speech, gain confidence and skills.
Tip ➡️ Diversify role models:
Atypical career paths,
Testify in secondary schools via the Intrépides de la Tech (because a woman who speaks for 1 hour in second grade means 30% more girls in science courses).
Tip ➡️ Propose reskilling programs to attract people from other departments.
4️⃣ BNP Paribas, Sandrine DELAGE
The WoGiTech project was basically his intrapreneurship program at BNP Paribas.
Flop 👉 Laying down an action plan without raising awareness of the company’s biases.
Top 👉 Use listening studies, extract the verbatims, integrate emotion, share it, help each other, create an internal and external community.
Tip ➡️ Events are essential to get the word out.
Tip ➡️ Build bridges with the associations that create these dedicated breeding grounds for gender diversity in the digital world.