Building an Inclusive Culture for Women in IT

Women have played an important role in computing as far back as the eighteenth century (e.g., Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, and Katherine Johnson to name just a few pioneers in the industry). However, the proportion of women earning a computer science degree has steadily declined since the mid-1980s, and those who do pursue an IT career are choosing not to stay. In the United States today, only 26% of computing roles are occupied by women. Of this group, Asian women account for 24%, while Black women and Latinas account for 11% and 8%, respectively. Why is this the case?

Research from Northwest Center for Women in IT shows there are five structural barriers to women remaining in the IT workforce—unconscious bias, isolation, supervisory relationships, promotion processes, and competing life responsibilities. To solve this problem, organizations must pursue initiatives that create an inclusive and equitable culture.

Building a more inclusive culture for women

I’ve spent my career in technology, designing broad training and enablement programs and mentoring women. I’ve seen the positive impact of encouraging women and underrepresented individuals to grow their careers in IT. Today, I lead the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Training and Certification organization, and one of the ways I’m specifically helping build a more inclusive culture for women in IT is through accessible education that levels the playing field for anyone who desires to learn cloud computing. When you remove barriers to education, you can create stronger and more diverse teams. That’s why we’re intentional about investing in our education programs and have committed to provide 29 million learners globally with free cloud skills training by 2025.

As I think about the above mentioned obstacles causing attrition in IT, I want to share my perspective on ways to create a culture that nurtures women and underrepresented groups to thrive in IT careers.

1.       Accept biases and actively work with your teams to combat them. Every human has unconscious biases; they’re our mental shortcuts to help us process information. Our brain categorizes people based on stereotypes we learned from our upbringing, media, culture, and more, so it’s important to invest in helping your teams understand their own biases and how to actively interrupt them before they become a barrier. Create mechanisms to reduce implicit prejudices, such as requiring training for combatting bias, both in formal situations, such as addressing employee performance issues, and informal situations, such as developing professional mentoring relationships. These mechanisms should also include setting goals for hiring and promoting talent by rethinking how your organization sources job applicants and ensuring that promotion-related training opportunities are available to a wide array of individuals.

2.       Nurture communities that build employee confidence. Ensure allyship and mentor programs are in place to support women and other underrepresented employees. Isolation can lead to imposter syndrome—an internal experience of believing that you’re not as competent as others perceive you—and can cause individuals to leave their roles. This can affect anyone, no matter their social status, skill level, or background. Having communities—or even just someone else to talk to who has a similar experience—helps employees support one another, move past irrational beliefs about self- and professional-worth, and create a more inclusive culture. Set the tone for inclusivity from the very top of the organization and encourage executive sponsorship of formalized employee communities.

3.       Improve opportunities for career growth. There’s ample research that shows an employee’s relationship with their manager is the leading cause of retention—or attrition—in the workplace. A manager’s key responsibility is to create an environment where employees can do their best work and continue to grow professionally—perhaps even outside the traditional bounds of the employee’s role. For example, I met with a woman at Slalom Consulting who wanted to build cloud skills among women in non-technical roles at the organization. Together, we built a solution that helped these women learn cloud fundamentals, with overwhelming support from Slalom CEO, Brad Jackson, and senior leadership. We hoped for 300 participants, but almost 900 women completed the program. These women are now better equipped to understand their business and support their customers, and we’re thrilled to help them increase their value to the company and broaden their career opportunities. But don’t take my word for it, check out what Slalom participants had to say about the impact of this training.

Inspired by this new training model, AWS then adopted the program shortly thereafter to accelerate training for our IT and non-IT female workforce, part of our ongoing efforts to upskill employees. The AWS program has seen strong early success, and the program has scaled internationally to reach 1,678 employees as of Q1 2021. This training has helped individuals grow their cloud fluency, with 76% of participants reporting that they didn’t have a technical background prior to joining the program. This type of training initiative is a win-win-win for each company, the employees, and the industry as a whole. It reinforces inclusivity, the impact of investing in employee development, and in for Slalom, achieved gender parity in AWS Certifications, an industry-recognized credential. Managers and leaders can design and provide space for growth and development programs for all employees, which in turn helps improve employee retention and upward mobility.

4.       Reward risk taking and continuous feedback. There can be a tendency for employees to not speak up or propose a new idea unless they think they know the right answer or have done all the necessary research. This can lead to inefficiencies, lost productivity, decreased morale, and siloed decision making within organizations. Facilitate and encourage a culture that rewards risk taking of all types. At AWS, any employee can put their ideas—big or small—down on paper in what we call a “narrative” and generate discussion and feedback from across the organization. This practice allows our employees, regardless of their tenure, level, or role, to share their perspectives on ways to better serve our customers. Create an environment where your people can voice their unique insights and big ideas, even if not fully formed. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you hear.

5.       Acknowledge the need for a work-life balance. While women are now more educated and employed than ever before, statistically they continue to take on more of the household and familial responsibilities than men. Encouraging a balanced approach toward non-work obligations boosts overall job satisfaction and appreciation among employees as well as long-term loyalty and productivity. Managers should have regular, open conversations about non-work obligations with their employees and work with them to find opportunities for balance between work responsibilities and home responsibilities. We’ve learned a lot during the pandemic with remote working conditions, and one thing we’ve taken away is that employees value employers who understand and honor the fullness of their lives.

What comes next

As organizations work to foster a more diverse and inclusive environment, there’s an obligation for each of us to use our positions to advocate for and spearhead opportunities for women and underrepresented individuals to keep growing and thriving in IT. By removing the barriers standing in their way, we can grow a diverse, global community of female IT builders and leaders of all skillsets, perpetuating inclusivity, equity, and innovation around the world.

Maureen Lonergan is the Director of Training and Certification for Amazon Web Services (AWS), where she leads a team of builders committed to training the next generation of cloud talent. Across AWS, we are working to make the future of tech more diverse—to build an inclusive environment that attracts and develops remarkably bright, driven, and inventive builders of all backgrounds.