Taking Leadership And Showing Initiative Will Create Improved Diversity And Inclusion In The Tech Sector
In this opinion piece, Renee Dvir, solution engineering manager for Cloudera Australia and New Zealand, reflects on the domination of the Australian tech sector by men, and the work that needs to be done to achieve diversity and inclusion. This is essential for the industry to remain competitive on a global scale.
The imbalance of gender diversity at the top of the tech sector plays a role in attracting women and different ethnic groups into studying technology subjects after high school.
Therefore, it’s important to address the diversity barrier to get more women into tech roles and to encourage them to study tech courses at university, because there is a prosperous career waiting for them.
The latest figure shows the gap between boys and girls who aspire to take on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. That has resulted in only 9 percent of women going on to study STEM, compared to 35 percent of men.
Work is already underway to get more women in STEM studies and careers, and the Australian Academy of Science has details of at least 331 separate initiatives across Australia to try and increase female participation in the industry.
The process of creating gender equality will not be fixed overnight, but it will take societal change within the tech sector.
International Women’s Day was a reminder that the industry needs to play a part to support women into education, make the industry more attractive and introduce them into the workplace. We also need to encourage and grow our future technology workforce and leaders and fix the issues within the sector.
To get our future generations interested in technology, I am involved in the Tech Girls Movement foundation.
It is a competition for girls aged seven to 16 in Australia and New Zealand, and my daughters took part last year and loved it. This year I am a coordinator of the competition in two Sydney schools and the program focuses on technology and how technology can solve problems.
Solving problems is something we can all get behind and get passionate about, and the teams of girls work to find an answer for community problems with a technical solution.
Last year’s winner focused on children with disabilities. They created an app that helped locate the nearest disability friendly playground.
Watching the mindset shift these girls go through from not wanting to code to realising it solves problems and is fun is inspirational. Changing this mindset right from the start is the way we are going to see a real change.
There are many organisations that are proactively working to ensure equality and are contributing to real time behaviour change at all levels. They recognise that to succeed it needs to have a work environment where all employees can thrive in a culture of respect and achievement.
Across the Asia Pacific region of Cloudera, diversity has been important for a long time. Research from McKinsey found companies with diverse executives and employees will outperform by 10-30 percent.
Our Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan, Mark Micallef, knows the huge value diversity and inclusion brings. It makes us well positioned to be competitive, meet the needs of our customers and the market by having this richness of backgrounds – this is shown in our leadership team.
In my organisation, we have strong female leadership in Australia, and that is not because we promote women ahead of men, it’s because we are a meritocracy – we have great women with large amounts of talent, and they got to those roles on merit.
To increase diversity, we need to invite women to the table and be more active to include them in the recruitment process, instead of waiting for them to apply. Just opening the door to diversity is not enough, we need to actively seek it and make sure to showcase it.
These steps help create progress towards getting the balance right. With more female leaders, and encouragement for diversity on the company side, we will see more women progress their careers, take on opportunities they may have turned down, and aspire for more senior roles.
I entered the exciting field of data after a career in video tech, and despite coming from a different background, I knew the future would be built on data and was eager to be a part of it. It has been exciting to work in this industry where data technology solves problems.
Being a part of building the next Enterprise Data cloud platform at Cloudera means I am part of solving problems for a large range of different use cases. Every customer has a different story about how deriving insight from data can solve problems such as cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, IoT, and lots more.
Going forward, I will continue to lead by example and be a voice for creating an equitable workforce. Together with Cloudera, we are raising the profile of this issue by being a sponsor of International Women’s Day and expanding our sponsorship program.
To advance our own members, we are investing in ways for our employees to grow their skill sets, offer inclusive benefits and use data to ensure we have a culture that sustains gender equality.
Latest News
Register Now For Your 60-Minute Digital Marketing Masterclass With Rocket Agency’s Co-Founder James Lawrence
Give your marketing skills a buff, polish and a nasal hair trim - and all in just 60 minutes - with this free webinar.
Adflow’s Regional OOH Coverage Expands By 60%
OOH transit company Adflow has announced the success of the first phase of its regional expansion program. Adflow’s regional footprint has increased by 60 per cent to now include 65 regional locations. With 9.1 million people living regionally in Australia (growth of 1.1 per cent experienced in the 19/20 Financial year) and most regional centres […]
Freshworks Starts Trading On Nasdaq, Valued at $13.7 Billion
Freshworks, a leading software company, has started trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, marking an important milestone for the company. The company priced its IPO at US$36 per share (AU$49.76), raising about US$1 billion (AU$1.4B), resulting in a total market capitalisation of AU$13.7 billion (US$10B). Freshworks, which was founded in India, has strong roots […]
SLIK Announces Four New Key Hires
Independent creative agency, SLIK, has made significant changes to its full service creative offering with four hires across management, creative and production.
Lucciana Beynon Falls Victim To Brutal & Outdated Photoshopping
B&T warns this article contains rather racy imagery. But as you're working from home, a trip to HR's not on the cards.
News Corp Reveals The Power Of Brand Content In New Research
News unveils 'The Power of Brand Content' research. The title arguably giving away the fact that it's a huge fan of it.
The Nutrition Couch Joins ARN’S IHeartPodcast Network
Has a partner complained of incessant flatulence, pungent urine or performance issues? This nutrition podcast may help.
How Retailers Can Maximise Their Results This Sales Season
Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) is the biggest player in the holiday shopping game and Google’s most recent research suggests consumer interest for the peak sales season starts much earlier than retailers may realise. The pandemic has fundamentally changed buyer behaviour over peak sales season, with Google suggesting that global consumer interest in Black Friday […]
CUB & Clems Melbourne Unveil A Wonderful Ode To Aussie Pubs
This ode to pubs is so visceral and raw you can almost smell the chunder, the beer-soaked carpet & the urinal blocks.
Thank Your Lucky Stars, RMIT Pitch Night Is Back!
RMIT Pitch Night returns! And if you ever needed a reason to break out the cocktail shaker, this has to be it.
Study Reveals Australia Has The 14th Best Netflix Library In The World
Australia falls to 14th on best Netflix library list. However, we're still tops for skin cancer rates & shark attacks.
Watchdog Deems “Karen, Boomer, Femi-Nazi & Snowflake” Are Mildly Offensive To TV & Radio Audiences
Good news for the team at Sky News, as watchdog stops short of banning terms such as Karen, snowflake and femi-nazi.
Nine Working With Local Authorities To Ensure Love Island Goes Ahead After COVID-19 Scare
Love Island production under a cloud after COVID scare. And here's you wrongly blaming gonorrhea.
Seven Appoints New Head Of Research And Insights
Apparently daily OzTAM data not enough, as Seven names new head of research and insights.
Wednesday TV Wrap: ABC Beats 10 In Battle For Bronze
B&T never tires of the true magnificence that's the entry to the ABC's Ultimo studios. Hence this lead photo yet again.
Foxtel Ramps Up Its News Streaming With The Launch Of Flash
Foxtel now offering so much content it's considering offering a free extra day of the week with every subscription.
Agent99 Adds The Distilled Spirits Council Of The U.S & Helen Tarrant To Portfolio
Awindependent PR Agency Agent99 has added The Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS) to its client roster, alongside thought leader and commercial property specialist, Helen Tarrant. DISCUS is a national trade association representing U.S. producers, marketers, and exporters of distilled spirits. The account was won following a competitive pitch earlier this year. DISCUS has […]
Family Guy Drops COVID Vaccine PSA And It’s Totally Brilliant
Do you often decry "I'd never watch that Family Guy smut", but secretly love Brian & Stewie? You're in for a treat here.
Melbourne Creatives Release “Locktown” T-shirts To Raise Funds For Beyond Blue
Melbourne-based independent creative agency, By All Means, has today released limited edition ‘Locktown’ t-shirts to create a positive, artistic commemoration of their city, while shining a spotlight on the significant impact of lockdown on the mental health of Victorians. After 235 days under strict stay-at-home orders, Melbourne today claims the unenviable crown from Buenos Aires […]
This Is Flow Doubles Up, Winning Riverina Dairy And Liquefy Health Without Pitch
This Is Flow suffering a bout of belching, bloating and occasional fatty stools after winning Riverina Dairy account.
Meet JustEggs: The Digital Agency Driving Customers Back In-Store
B&T still loves the bricks & mortar retail experience. Less so the insidious bricks & mortar sales assistant experience.
Influencer Marketing Agency Komodo Announces New TikTok Offering
Global marketing agency, Komodo, has announced it will be launching a dedicated TikTok arm to the business in Australia, following a series of key industry hires and new creators signed to their roster. The agency, who partners brands with social influencers across the globe, aims to bring a new dimension to influencer marketing by assisting brands […]
Joan Warner Announces She Will Step Down AS CEO Of CRA In 2022
Joan Warner to step down from CRA CEO role, as P&O 16-day 'Bula' Fijian adventure cruise starts to weigh heavily.
How Retail Can Help Consumers Ride The Emotional Rollercoaster Of COVID-19
According to Fifth Dimension CEO Lyndall Spooner, whether you like roller coasters or not, we have all been riding ‘Dashed Hopes’ the COVID-19 emotional roller coaster for over 18 months and many of us have turned to online retail therapy to cope. Spooner uses the analogy of an emotional roller coaster to depict consumers’ […]
Havas Village Australia Launches “Be Together” To Reunite Staff With Loved Ones When Borders Open
Underscoring its ongoing commitment to team care and wellbeing, during and beyond the pandemic, Havas Village Australia has introduced be together – a reconnection initiative to enable staff to reconnect with loved ones for longer when domestic and international borders reopen. The initiative, which reflects the Havas core value ‘Better Together’, gives staff from Host/Havas, […]
Independent Media Agencies Of Australia Launches First Campaign
if anyone believed in the power of advertising then you'd hope it was the Independent Media Agencies Of Australia.
Howatson+Company Nabs Colenso BBDO’s Levi Slavin For Chief Creative Officer Role
Howatson+Company puts a trying few months behind it with latest hire. That said, the cubicle in the men's not flushing.
Spikes Asia Appoints Jenny Lau As Events Director
When we hear Spikes Asia, B&T thinks a Singapore Sling at Raffles, chilli crab & an irritating heat rash in the groin.
ANZ Brands Top Pattern’s Best Practice Ranking Of Brands On Amazon.com.au
Global ecommerce and marketplace specialist Pattern has ranked a group of 50 brands selling on Amazon.com.au based on a set of best practice criteria it has developed. Pet brand Zenify topped the ranking in Pattern’s Amazon Australia Benchmarking Report, scoring 82 per cent of the possible marks against a set of criteria designed to measure […]
Fifth Dimension Expands Executive Leadership Team
Fifth Dimension Consulting has announced the expansion of its executive leadership team in response to the organisation’s significant growth over the last 18 months. Lyndall Spooner has moved from the position of managing director to the role of chief executive officer (CEO). As CEO, she will lead Fifth Dimensions’ innovation arm, as well as the […]
