Power Bite: Steps to Increase Gender Diversity

Steps To Increase Gender Diversity

While the move for gender diversity has been glacial for decades, progress in recent years offers encouragement for change. What does it take to keep the momentum going? How can the current majority be persuaded to see that diversity is truly in everyone’s best interest?

Drawing examples from the male-dominated field of technology within the financial sector, Siew Choo Soh, Managing Director, Group Head of Big Data/AI and Consumer Banking Technology at DBS Bank, shares steps you can take to increase gender diversity in your organization.

Highlighting the Need To Do Something

To increase gender diversity, you’ll need to start by raising awareness within every individual in the organization about the importance of creating a more balanced gender representation. Here are some questions and mindsets you might encounter along the way, and suggestions to help reframe perspectives.

Good Enough Isn’t Enough

Women currently represent about 23% to 30% of technology teams in financial services. For many, this is somewhat good enough. As a leader, it’s your role to show them that it isn’t. For instance, you could highlight missed opportunities to create products and services that cater equally to the needs of both men and women.

We have seen ample examples where products and services that are designed by a largely male team fail to support the needs of women. A great example is the car crash test bias which indicates that female drivers are 17% more likely to be killed, and any seat belt wearing females are 73% more likely to be seriously injured because of the lack of modelling of a female driver or passenger in car crash tests.

Win-Win

Another common misunderstanding is that increasing gender diversity comes at the expense of the current majority. It’s key that everyone understands that this move is not a zero sum game. With more women and different perspectives on board, your organization’s products and services can evolve to get better, to tap into new markets. As you cater to new customer groups, the proverbial pie grows. No one has to give up a slice for everyone to get a share.