Women in Tech: How Ciloo is Addressing the Gender Gap
Our female workforce stands at 52%, including three new hires starting in the next few weeks. We calculated this only recently. This is because Ciloo’s equal gender representation progressed organically without tokenism or ingenuine performative policies. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, let’s look at how we got here – dare we say, effortlessly.
It’s easy to overlook an international advocacy day when the cause it’s celebrating has been won within your immediate circle. In reality, the women’s day conversation is still critical. The United Nations emphasizes that there is an alarming lack of financing with a staggering USD 360 billion annual deficit in spending on gender-equality measures. Closer to home, women still only account for around 26.7% of people working in tech-related jobs. Even more alarming is that the percentage of women in all tech-related careers has decreased over the last two years. It’s obvious then that much work is needed to get to a place of a natural gender balance.
Why the gap in women in tech?
There are several societal factors which start as early as childhood. Society is 7x more likely to attribute terms like “sweet”, “pretty”, “cute”, and “beautiful” exclusively to females, while terms such as “brave”, “cool”, “genius” and “innovative” are twice as likely to be attributed exclusively to males. STEM fields are often seen as traditionally male-oriented. Eurostat data found that just 1% of girls said they intended to work in an ICT-related field, compared to 10% of boys.
There are also specific industry factors. There are far less women in tech leadership positions which can make it difficult for young girls to see themselves in these careers. As quoted by Tech.eu, recent research shows there is a three-year experience gap between men and women in the tech sector, impacting female progression and access to more senior and leadership roles. Added (and connected) to this: tech workplace culture is more male-oriented with a lack of work-life balance and the expectation to work excessively long hours (and almost live at the office) under the guise of office fun (office gym, office game area, etc.).
Three Steps for a Level-Playing Field
We realize that achieving a workforce where more than half are women isn’t always easy, and we’re particularly proud to have done so naturally. We believe that our work culture made this possible, without the need for positive discrimination. As we sat to ponder this subject, these are the factors we believe led us to this achievement:
1. Inclusive hiring practices
Talent knows no gender, and our recruitment processes are designed to eliminate biases that might favor one gender over another. They’re also global, so not only do we have equal gender representation, but a culturally diverse one at that.
2. Continuous and flexible development
We understand that professional growth is a highly personal and continuous journey. We provide the tools and resources necessary to meet our employees where they’re at and support them to achieve both personal and career goals.
3. Remote and asynchronous work
Undoubtedly, a key factor that has enabled Ciloo to attract and retain female talent is our flexible work culture. Remote and async work arrangements offer our team the flexibility needed to balance their professional and personal lives effectively – be it working remotely while exploring the world or working in-between school runs. Remote and async work allows our employees to excel without sacrificing other aspects of their lives.
Gender-balanced companies are more likely to have better employee satisfaction, higher productivity, and increased innovation. Finding solutions to complex issues needs diverse minds and ideas. We’re thrilled to be reaping the benefits of an inclusive and balanced workforce and hopefully setting the stage for more women to pursue a tech career!
Ciloo is a software company that revolutionizes how global enterprises manage internal eCommerce. By offering a one-stop shop for simplifying payments and enabling local and on-demand production, Ciloo significantly reduces carbon emissions and costs while improving brand control. With a diverse team based in The Netherlands, Norway, UK, Mexico, Pakistan, Malta, Turkey, North Macedonia, Italy, India and Kenya, Ciloo is poised for global impact. For more information, visit ciloo.com. To learn more about our remote and async work culture, visit ciloo.com/how-we-work.