Talk

Attracting and retaining women in tech: going beyond the trend !
Conference (INTERMEDIATE level)
Room 6
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Women are underrepresented in the digital realm. Today, they represent only 28 to 30% of employees, all professions combined.

What happened in this professional sector, however dominated by women during its genesis? Would women no longer feel in their place or not?

Some disturbing findings:

  • higher education leading to digital technology is invested in by men;
  • recruitment advertisements are not, as a rule, thought and written for women;
  • tech teams don't think about the deep needs of women or diversity;
  • women do not feel heard.

Even if women communicate, it seems that we do not listen to them.

And what are the results? Migration to corollary professions, brown-out, disembodiment in the team, resignations, creation of FemTech.

On a diverse spectrum, they lead the creation of safe places as a room of community expression.

So, if you want to promote diversity beyond the trend, and you have understood that the helping women in tech is a breach in solving the issue of diversity and inclusion, take part in my talk!

Marcy Ericka Charollois
The Safe Place

Hey world !

I'm Marcy Ericka, a social tech writer, content strategist, founder of Merci Marcy and The Safe Place.

I'm a former editor-in-chief of WeLoveDevs for 2 years. I was the first woman hired there. Yes, on top of that, I was the first racialized and LGBTQIA+ woman.

I quickly realised that few people like me are represented in tech. I then chose to take a more committed stance to promote diversity by breaking through the pretense of corporate values. To sum up my journey : I am an advocate for creating real cohesion within teams, enabling them to embody a culture of genuine inclusion beyond the bullshit

Generated Summary
WARNING: This summary was generated using GPT based on the transcript, as a result spelling mistakes and more importantly hallucinations can be present.

Low Representation of Women in Tech: A Summary
Marcia's Experience
Marcia, a content strategist in recruitment and social tech, is discussing the low representation of women in tech. She has worked with various organizations to promote high diversity and inclusion in tech. She shares her personal experience of being the first woman hired on a team and how she went from a communication officer to an editor-in-chief. She talks about how she was targeting an identical group of men with her keywords and how she was biased when it came to promoting articles and events. Marcia encourages people to think about their environment and the impact it has on gender inequality.
Habitus and Status Quo
The concept of habitus, developed by French sociologist Pierre Bordeaux, is a system of preferences and lifestyle that can be internalized unconsciously by individuals as they adapt to a social environment. It is shaped by family, school, gender, language and body behavior, resulting in individuals belonging to homogeneous groups that share similar values. This creates a majority group that becomes the decision maker and can lead to confirmation biases and sympathy/antipathy biases. The status quo, which is the current state of social structures or values, has a strong impact on outcomes and can lead to opposition or even revolution.
Intersectionality and Women's Empowerment
This summary explores the concept of intersectionality and how it applies to women's empowerment in 2022. It highlights the differences between different minorities, such as white, black, transgender, or disabled women, and how these differences can lead to unique experiences and paths. Kimberly Crenshaw's work on critical race theory and intersectionality is discussed, as well as Sylvia Docker's art that visualizes the power of this concept. Finally, a game is proposed to reflect on privilege and how it affects different groups of people.
Wheel of Power Model
This presentation encourages people to think about how they can use their power and privilege to make changes in terms of inclusion and inclusivity. It outlines a \"Wheel of Power\" model with three ranges: talking about one's sexuality status, ability, and formal education. It also addresses common attitudes towards change, such as 15% of people who resist it and 70% who have a neutral stance. Finally, it discusses stereotypes about gender roles and provides statistics to challenge these assumptions.
Women's Progress in Tech
This study, published in October 2021 by Ipsos, looked into the obstacles preventing women from progressing in tech. It found that 30% of these barriers come from bias and that 52% of women feel that their gender or gender expression will be a problem in their career. It also found that women feel they need to meet 90% of the job requirements to feel legitimate to apply, while men only need to meet 60%. The study suggests implementing actions such as internal monitoring, role models, listening to and accommodating employees' needs, and pay transparency to attract and retain more women in tech.
Junior Women in the Workplace
This summary discusses the importance of providing transparency and career paths to junior women in the workplace. It also encourages companies to provide more than just \"bro culture\" activities, such as pizza and beer, and instead offer different activities like hiking or climbing. Additionally, it encourages companies to invest financially in permanent actions for women, such as trainings and boot camps, to help them speak up if they are interrupted or feel shy about their careers. Finally, it suggests that companies should promote women's careers and participate in podcasts, technical articles, and recruitment ads to attract more women to their team.
Creating an Inclusive Environment
Recruitment processes should be made more transparent in order to attract more women. Titles of posts should also be feminized to create a sense of legitimacy. It is also important to promote STEM in schools and high schools in order to encourage girls to pursue these fields. Additionally, job ads should include concrete promises instead of hypothetical ones. Finally, it is important to recognize that female-led startups often receive less funding than male-led ones, and marginalized communities are often looking for places where they can express themselves and find a sense of community.
Conclusion
Marcia's talk emphasized the importance of striving for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, as it increases productivity, satisfaction, and helps to reduce prejudice. It is also important to recognize the role models from the past who have achieved success despite facing discrimination. In order to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, it is essential to focus on creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and accepted. Biased behaviors can be changed for the better, and it is important to promote the idea that even if it is not your personal problem, it is still something to be concerned about.
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