Gender equity in the tech industry: how Idealist Consulting supports women in tech
It’s no secret that the gender gap in the tech industry is formidable, and by some estimates it’s worsening. As reported by FastCompany, in 1985, 37% of all computer and information science graduates were women, but by 2008, that number had fallen to 18%. According to Girls Who Code, 74% of middle school girls express interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), yet 0.4% of high school girls select computer science as their intended college majors. Getting women into technology, paying them as well as their male counterparts, and encouraging them to stay in the field is an ongoing issue.
For a city that prides itself on family-friendliness and liveability, the local technology boom has brought the issue of gender equity to the attention of locals and local businesses in full force. Idealist Consulting has been in the tech industry for ten years, so we’re no stranger to the social and economic sensitivities of the industry. In addition to being a B Corp, running our Pay It Forward program, and taking part in the Pledge 1% program, we’ve also done a few things that directly address the important issue of gender inequality in our industry.
Women in positions of power
Check out our team page and you’ll find that from consultants to managers, women represent at least half of the positions on our roster; even more so at the managerial level. Finding female talent not only in more technical roles (architects, developers, project managers, admins, etc.), but also in marketing, operations, sales, and services makes for a strong team that’s breaking barriers and providing the exception to the rule. For this reason, we’ve pioneered generous parental leave policies, flexible work schedules, and the opportunity to work virtually to attract and accommodate employees holistically.
Serving nonprofits
According to The White House Project, a vast majority of the workers in the nonprofit sector are women (roughly 73 percent). In addition protecting and providing services to underserved or underrepresented communities, many of our nonprofit clients are providing important employment opportunities for women. Most of our clients are nonprofits, and in fact, Idealist Consulting conducted one of the first fifty nonprofit Salesforce implementations! We take special pride in the way the technology we provide enables our nonprofit clients to better serve their mission.
Picking partners carefully
There are plenty of CRM providers to chose from, but for the past ten years, we’ve hitched our cart to Salesforce and Salesforce.org. We love the technology, the free licenses for nonprofits, the commitment to social responsibility, and last year when Marc Benioff spent $3 million to try and close the pay gap between men and women working at Salesforce, we added the commitment to gender equity to the list.
Upon noticing that many top executives were men, Benioff made an internal decision to actively hire more women and to nurture those women the company had already brought on. However, after an audit of salaries, there was still disparity between women’s and men’s wages. While there is still much work to be done, Salesforce is now in the process of raising underpaid individuals’ salaries one at a time.
In the grand scheme of the technology sector, Idealist Consulting may be a drop in the bucket, but that hasn’t stopped us from enacting initiatives with a big impact. By actively growing an equitable company culture, we invest in our employee’s and clients’ livelihoods and wellness. In an industry where exponential grown, breakneck speeds, acquisitions, mergers, buyouts and booms run the show, it’s important to stick to the basics and focus create a sustainable environment for everyone.
If you have questions, feel free to contact us. Click the link below to learn more about our company culture. Also, check our your local chapter of Women in Technology (here's the link to the Portland chapter!).
