Transcript 0:00 So here's the bottom line. Let's mentor women. Let's help them create goals and meet deadlines. Let's help them achieve work-life balance in today's crazy times. We all get it. 0:14 Let's bring them into the inner circle and keep that inner circle going strong. It doesn't have to stop. We can find time. 0:31 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, your voice for our connected world, with your host, Peggy Smedley. Hello, listeners, and welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show. I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:46 Today on the show, I'm gonna be talking all about women in technology. As many people know, today is International Women's Day. Did you know that this day has been around for more than a century? 1:00 It all started with a decision in Copenhagen in 1910. The following year, this day was honored for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. 1:13 That first gathering was supported by more than a million people. Today, the day belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. It's not about one country, group, or even an organization. 1:28 With the help of social media, it has become a global movement. To celebrate, I would like you to consider a few questions, though, today. 1:40 Are we working hard enough to get women back in the technology industry since the pandemic forced so many women out of the workforce? And what exactly is your company doing to bring women back in? So here's the reality. 1:58 Only 26% of computing-related jobs are held by women, and only 6% are held by Asian women, 3% are held by Black women, 2:13 and only 2% are held by Hispanic women. We still have a lot of work to do as an industry. So on the first segment, I'm going to give us some tips for how to get women back in our inner circle. 2:30 But first, before we start that discussion, let me tell you who we're gonna have on the show today. 2:35 Later on in the show, I'll be interviewing Joe Cioffi, Assistant Teaching Professor at Penn State New Kensington, and then I'll be wrapping up the show with Ansel Rajgopur, Director of Connected Products and Surge at Schneider Electric. 2:51 So stick around. We've got a lot of different things we're gonna talk about today. So let's get started. First, let me paint a picture for you of where we are today. 3:02 Deloitte Global predicts large global technology firms on average will reach nearly 33% of female representation in their workforce this year, which is up slightly more than two percentage points from 2019. 3:20 Additionally, the proportion of women in technological roles will also rise only slightly. 3:28 Although the problem here is the number tends to lag the overall proportion of women by about eight percentage points. Now, think about that for a minute. 3:41 While I'm pleased to see that we have some growth, but we still need to see more growth overall on the horizon, and I'm not sure it's the growth that we still need. I, I think there's much more we can do. 3:57 So let's be very honest here with ourselves. Two percentage points is barely moving that needle that we always talk about. So let's talk about the elephant, I think, in the room, the pandemic. 4:12 During the pandemic, women in the technology sector became much less satisfied with many aspects of their life and their work, and let me explain why. Many women reported their work-life balance worsened. 4:30 Prior to the pandemic, 70% of women reported good work-life balance. In the midst of the pandemic, only 32% of women could say the same. That is a whopping drop of 38%. 4:47 Think about that. So here's another one. Women report mental wellbeing as a dropping a similar amount. Dropping. Think about that. Just... 4:58 It, it, it's mind-boggling if you're a woman, and it should be the same if you're a man. Women also reported poor physical health and wellbeing, and an inability to kinda switch off at the end of the day. 5:12 It's this always-on mentality that is causing many to struggle. 5:17 As a result, many have left the workforce, actually in droves, and we're talking about this mass exodus, and sadly, this really is no joke, and I think a lot of you are saying, "Well, what's the big deal?" 5:33 But it's a very big deal. But this is also impacting those still in the workforce as well. Productivity, motivation, and loyalty to employers are also dropping at a very rapid pace, I might add. 5:49 So some companies recognized this early on and responded pretty quickly, while others did not or did not know how to adjust or to even respond.Some of the very large technology companies have expanded programs for backup childcare and paid leave caregiver kind of leave efforts and programs. 6:15 Many have created new flexible work and wellbeing kind of programs. Now, some are offering free mental health counseling, and that's all good news, okay? We, we like that. 6:28 A survey released at the end of last year, uh, by MetLife shows that while nearly half of the women report the pandemic has negatively impacted their careers, nearly two in three who left the workforce are ready to actually return, 6:46 and eight in 10 of those are considering careers in STEM. Now, women are eyeing science, technology, engineering and mathematics, that's STEM, of course, as they are now beginning to return to the workforce. 7:02 So let's return to those questions I presented at the onset of our discussion today. 7:11 Are we working hard enough to get women back in technology industry since the pandemic actually forced so many women out of the workforce? 7:23 What exactly is your company doing to bring women back in the workforce? How can you get women into your inner circle? Those are those important questions that we're all excited about. 7:39 We're all saying it's w- International Women's Day today. So now is the perfect time to jump into the game to get the new recruits, to excite women, because we're all excited about what International Women's Day means. 7:56 So let me share my opinion, and then I will give you maybe some tips that other women have shared and, and we could ta- uh, think about, and maybe you can talk with others as, as you hear some of these. 8:09 So my opinion is this: we need to foster and cultivate an interest in STEM. That needs to start at a very young age. 8:19 We, we've said this, I can't tell you, for years, since I've had this show, since I've been involved in technology. Then we need to bring women along with us as we go through this journey. 8:32 We can't just say we wanna start it, but we've gotta continue to encourage and bring them along, and that means together. Not one-off, we're gonna start it, and then we get so busy in our careers we don't do it. 8:44 We need that mentorship and encouragement because times get tough. We need to be there. We need to be that support that they need. And we need the programs and alongside of this for wellness and learning 9:01 'cause remember, times get tough for all of us. So we also need to recognize women in technology, which will help to encourage even more to be inspired because technology, like anything, is tough. 9:17 There are good days, there are bad days, and that's life in general. I'm always a big believer in the rollercoaster ride instead of a straight line, so that's why it's not easy work and that's what makes it exciting. 9:31 And th- that's what I think we need to encourage, is, and telling them that. Don't tell them it's gonna be a flat line. We want them to understand the excitement of it. And so here's my tips. 9:44 I have many of them for you today. First, we need more diversity, equity, and inclusion in the leadership pipeline. I love that the theme for this year's International Women's Day is to break the bias. 9:59 I love that, I really do, because we do need a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive because we learn from each other, and that's the exciting... 10:09 I've learned from so many amazing people, so many amazing women in so many interviews that I've given over the years, thousands and thousands I might add. We also need better benefits to fit women's need. 10:24 We need those wellness programs and childcare options and other programs to help women achieve that work-life balance. They don't need to give up anything. 10:34 They need to be able to give something, and that's that inner growth that they have that we can share. 10:41 Too many women shy away from big careers because they don't believe they can have a strong family and work-life balance. I did it, and you can share the growth and opportunities as doing it. That just isn't true. 10:57 You can do all of it and not have to sacrifice. Well, you might have to give up things, but not have to sacrifice things. 11:04 I started my business on the principles of faith, family, and business, and I believe them wholeheartedly. 11:10 And while I still work too many long hours, and I tell people this, and I sleep too little, I was always at my kids' dance recitals or football games or tennis matches. 11:21 And if my kids were here right now and they were s- talking about it, a- I might-- they might say, you know, "Were things, you know, were we running around all the time?" Yes. 11:32 But at the same time, while I was traveling for work or building a business, I was able to achieve it. 11:39 Somebody, whether it was my husband or I, we were at those events, whether running i- it the moment they were [laughs] on the tennis court or starting a football game. It's possible. 11:50 We need to show women how to do it and provide them with the tools to help them be successful, so... And it's possible. Here's another idea. 12:00 What about a program to help women better understand how to switch off?Working remotely, it's hard to switch off, but it- it's always possible just to sit for a moment and be quiet. 12:14 It was never something I was able to figure out when I was younger, but as I am getting older, I'm finding out you can do it. 12:21 But as we've talked about earlier, that inability to switch off is causing difficulty with mental and physical wellbeing for many women in technology, but it can be done. 12:32 And I'm learning [laughs] that I can do it, so so can other women, which is ultimately impacting productivity and loyalty to employers. We can sh- teach them as we have the experience. 12:45 Perhaps we can address that as well as by offering education on how to switch off when working remotely. Let's also continue to offer dedicated training to help women in their career progression. 12:59 This is something that has long existed and needs to continue. Another idea to bring women into an inner circle is offering paid internships or apprenticeships. Employee research groups are another great idea. 13:16 Resources are so important. So here's the bottom line. Let's mentor women. Let's help them create goals and meet deadlines. Let's help them achieve work-life balance in today's crazy times. We all get it. 13:32 Let's bring them into the inner circle and keep that inner circle going strong. Doesn't have to stop. We can find time, whether we have to shift and move it around, but there's always time. What ideas do you have? 13:46 I'm sure there's many women out there who have a lot more creative and different ideas than I've just shared, but I've learned a lot of these ideas from the best and brightest women in the world. 13:57 If we share ideas together, we can help bring more women into STEM, more women into business who h- can share and build our inner circle and our communities and our businesses and our families together. 14:11 Faith, family, business. What's your way of doing things? Let's all share it. All right. As always, if you have thoughts on what I've just talked about today, please send me a tweet. 14:22 Continue our discussion on social media at Connected World, on LinkedIn, whatever you want. We wanna hear from you. All right. 14:29 That's all the time I have for this segment, but check out our website at connectedworld.com if you haven't seen the new articles, or check out the radio show at peggysmedley show.com. All right. Don't go away. 14:39 We've got more to come. I've got those great guests as always. So, uh, I want you to check out. We're gonna take a quick commercial break. As always, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, your voice for our connected world. 14:50 And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. We'll be right back. [upbeat music]
