International Women’s Day 2021: Steps that women in tech can take

Author: Beatrice

“The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #ChooseToChallenge, a theme that calls for us all to choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality, and choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. And while days like these shine a brighter light on important issues, they’re issues that need to be front of mind throughout the year. The challenge is, opening our minds feels uncomfortable. That’s why days like these are an important check in. 

In the tech industry, we need to focus on building a more diverse workforce to turn it into one that’s actually representative of our users, and create a workplace that creates a sense of belonging for everyone.  We need to actively seek out talented professionals from underrepresented groups, and commit to work that will help us all understand the identities, intersectionalities, and experiences of employees worldwide. 

More broadly, the tech industry needs to look at investments it can make to strengthen the diverse communities both within and outside of the industry. It can’t just be talk – there needs to be action to follow the words. We recently launched a Google for Startups Black Founders Fund to support Black-led tech startups. This fund supports the $175 million global investment towards economic opportunity for black business owners announced by Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai.

While there has been progress in the last few years, we’re still a way off where we need to be. Everyone needs to keep learning and continue striving to support diversity, equity and inclusion. Equality needs to be top of the agenda and driven by C-suite professionals themselves.”

By Pip White, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Google Cloud.