tech women people diversity needs create

To create better solutions, the tech industry needs to build diversity intoeverything it doesIf the technological revolution is to work for everyone, it needs the input ofall groups – especially the group that makes up 51% of the population: women.As women, our insights and experiences will be different to those who identifyas male, so including women in the process means that we are able to createmore rounded solutions. It isn’t just air conditioners that were built to besexist (most are set to the needs of the average man whose body temperaturesis naturally higher, freezing out women in the office), other technologicalmishaps that ignore women’s needs are far more problematic. Seat belts, forexample, are designed to the height of a man and do not factor in breasts.Solutions will ultimately be better when we have more diverse groups involved.Tech is continuously evolving and is part of every industry. It’s reallyimportant that young people – especially young women – consider working intech to shape the future.When we look at the data, we see companies that have at least one women on theboard are 20% less likely to go bankrupt. We also know that companies in thetop quartile for gender diversity are likely to outperform their competitorsby 15%, and those in the top quartile for ethnic diversity are likely tooutperform their competitors by 35%. So it’s clear that when we have a mixtureof people in the room we end up creating better solutions and happier teams.As an industry, we need to build diversity into everything we do in order tohave challenging conversations and, ultimately, come up with better solutions.Sheree AtchesonFor example, many voice-recognition technologies at first did not recognisefemale voices (despite many AI assistant’s voices being female) because thedesign teams did not include women. Many voice-recognition technologies stilltoday do not recognise different accents because they are designed by nativeEnglish speakers, and weren’t made by a team with different backgrounds. If wecreate diversity in the teams making our groundbreaking technologies, then weare more likely to have a successful business and employees.When we look at how broad the tech industry is, many people can use theirvarying degrees (that don’t necessarily need to be in computer science) tomove around different roles until they find one that fits their personalityand their values. The tech industry is also lucrative. An important part oftech is that people have financial stability because tech is consistentlyevolving and only getting bigger. However, there is still work to be done –eight in 10 UK companies still pay men more than women, and this needs tochange.A recent study found that 89% of people anticipate a skills shortage in the UKtech sector – a quarter say it will be significant. That’s why more women andpeople with diverse backgrounds need to consider technology. Whether you’reusing your phone or watching TV or tapping your bank card to make a payment,technology is already embedded in everyday life. If you’re a personconsidering a career in tech, how exciting is it that you can create somethingthat might affect hundreds, thousands or even millions of people.Sheree Atcheson, ambassador for Women Who Code, a non-profit organisationdedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. As told toSabrina Faramarzi