Tēnā koe
I hope you all enjoyed celebrating International Women’s Day 2020 last week. I was proud to be a part of a number of community events in Wellington and gave my keynote at Microsoft on Friday on the importance of men in the change required in our workplaces and organisations. We need everyone to be championing the development and success of women, not just the women!
One of the topics of discussion I was involved with was increasing our pipeline of female talent and the importance of getting young women at high school interested in careers in tech. Our ShadowTech programme aims to do just that.
We have had lots of requests from schools and organisations across the country looking to take part in ShadowTech. While we are hopeful we can put on this outstanding programme in 2020, we will need your help raising the funds to do so.
ShadowTech requires a significant amount of logistics and planning, which before 2019 was covered predominantly by government funding with some corporate sponsorship. Last year was our first year relying only on corporate sponsorship and we were able to run the programme in a reduced number of cities. This year we want to bring the programme back to all cities previously served and we will need all your help to do so! If you or your organisation would like to make ShadowTech happen this year, please let us know!
We also know that many of you want more opportunities to connect with like-minded people, passionate about supporting women in tech. We are looking for event regional coordinators who are passionate about bringing people together! Our ‘Connect’ working group is looking for volunteers in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland to join them as event gurus. Get in touch if you would like to be involved.
Watch this space for applications to be part of Mentoring Circles this year, our programme to support women in the workplace to grow and succeed in their tech careers.
Looking forward to a busy year ahead!
Thank you for your continued support.
Ngā mihi,
Eva Sherwood
Co-Chair
TechWomen
FEATURES & NEWS
The latest NZX diversity statistics reveals 29% of S&P/NZX50 directorships are female, up from 27.6 % in 2018 and on track to meet the 2020 target of 30% recommended by Global Women.
Anyone wanting to up-skill their tech / dev skills the Enspiral Dev Academy is one place to go that is for everyone. Apply now.
Gender Bias In STEM: Women In Tech Still Facing Discrimination.It is estimated that closing the gender gap in the STEM field would increase the EU GDP per capita by 0.7–0.9 per cent in 2030 and by 2.2–3.0 per cent in 2050.
Women in Tech 2020: The role of climate, gender and ICT What role do women and ICT play in the wider climate discussion and why is it so underreported? We take a look below.
Research from the University of Canterbury using more than a decade of data from 6000 university staff shows a gender performance pay gap exists in New Zealand’s universities even when men and women have the same research performance scores. Over a lifetime, a female scientific researcher in a New Zealand university earns up to $400,000 less than a male.
We were proud supporters of Waikato’s #TechFest 2020 last week, enabling a panel of amazing women discussing #Tech4Good.
Apple stores are hosting over 5000 female focused sessions over March for International Women’s Day.
IWD 2020 interview: Meet Kordia’s New Zealand CISO Hilary Walton
In the UK the Government Equalities Office has released a Women’s progression in the workplace report. The report looked at two key ways to measure progression – wage growth, and movement up a vertical occupational scale. We found more resources for organisations around retaining women in tech, plus other diversity and inclusion guides here.
Report finds Women in UK tech sector ‘sidelined’ towards admin roles.
Female representation in the UK is 16th among OECD countries with the tech sector facing sizeable challenges.
Escaping gravity: Practical ways to support career growth paths for women in IT from Unisys Asia Pacific VP of human resources, Maria Sitaramayyaom.
Events and Awards
Attend AECOM’s Women-in-STEM Networking Event, 19 March, Auckland
Register now for Employer Info Event – Tech Internships and Programmes, 16 March, Christchurch
Celebrate the achievements of NZ tech companies and individuals at the NZ Hi-Tech Awards, 22 May, Wellington
