Improving for women in tech but more should be hired says Apple CEO
There are no good excuses for the tech sector not to employ more women, Apple CEO Tim Cook says. “I think the the essence of technology and its effect on humanity depends upon women being at the table”, he told the BBC in an interview. 34.8% of Apple’s employees are women. Consultancy Deloitte Global expects one in four of leaders in big tech will be a woman this yera.
“Technology’s a great thing that will accomplish many things, but unless you have diverse views at the table that are working on it, you don’t wind up with great solutions.”
Talking about the fact that women are underrepresented at university courses in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) he said that: “We have to fundamentally change the number of people that are taking computer science and programming.”
Apple in its report about the company’s diversity and inclusion says that compared to previous year, open leadership roles filled by women globally increased by 10 percentage points overall, and by 8 percentage points in research and development. And in the US, open leadership roles filled by people from underrepresented communities increased by 16 percentage points overall, and by 9 percentage points in R&D.
34.8% of the total workforce are women and women hold 31.4% of leadership roles. For tech roles the number of women is lower: 24.4%.
In the US, 43.8% are white, 27.9% Asian, 14.8% Hispanic&Latinx, 9.4% Black, 3.2% multiracial and 0.7% Indigenous.
A report from UN Women recently said that biased gender norms and stereotypes derail girls’ choices of what to study in school, and ultimately, their careers and employment opportunities as adults.
”Globally, only 3% of information and technology students are women. Women are also a minority of students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at only 35% and this despite that globally, young women outnumber young men in tertiary education.”
“Overall, across countries, girls are systematically steered away from science and math careers. Teachers and parents, intentionally or otherwise, perpetuate biases around areas of education and work best “suited” for women and men”, the UN report said.
Consultancy Deloitte Global recently predicted that roughly one in four leadership positions at large global technology firms are expected to be held by women in 2022.
Women in tech are gaining ground as the technology industry—or at least its largest players—makes slow but steady progress in shrinking its gender gap, and women in tech leadership are making the fastest advances, Deloitte said.
Large global technology firms, on average, will reach nearly 33% overall female representation in their workforces in 2022, up slightly more than 2 percentage points from 2019, consultancy Deloitte Global predicts.
”Although the shares of women in technical and leadership roles have tended to lag the overall proportion of women by 8‒10 percentage points, they are increasing the most rapidly”
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