Women’s Equality Day: Striving for change in an unequal world

This Women’s Equality Day, six of Commvault’s experts spoke to Business Reporter to determine the state of the industry and what more can be done to close the gender gap.

Women’s Equality Day is an annual celebration that falls on 26th August. The event celebrates women’s achievements, whilst providing an opportunity to reflect on what still needs to be done to achieve total gender equality.

The technology sector is just one example of industries that continue to fall behind where we should be in 2022 and has work to do to achieve an equal and diverse workforce. One of the companies fighting for this change is the global enterprise leader in cloud data management, Commvault.

Missing a trick

At the top of every business’ agenda is to be successful – financially, operationally, and competitively. Most wouldn’t consider policies around diversity and inclusion to be a direct influence on that, but “businesses with equal and diverse workforces are proven to be more innovative, achieve their objectives and be the most financially successful,” begins Marco Fanizzi, International Senior Vice President and General Manager.

“Yet, according to BCI’s 2022 Global Business Continuity Management Compensation Report, women make up just a third of the business continuity workforce. It is time that the industry closes this gender gap.”

“The main challenge is to simply attract young women into the IT industry,” explains Eulalia Flo, Sales Director, Iberia. “In early careers, many talented women have a tendency to be perfectionists. The ‘thrive on your own’ and ‘trial / error’ approaches makes them feel out of place or even totally unprepared for that career, especially if their male peers have had technology as a hobby since their teens.”

Flo also recognises that, as Fanizzi pointed out, female perspective is essential in business and can add huge value: “The technology industry is transformative by nature. For this reason, we need different perspectives and experiences to uncover new opportunities to pursue and alternative ways of doing things.

“For example, there are some tendencies to revert to techno-solutionism – the need to do cool things with cutting edge technology – just for the sake of doing it. I believe that women are more likely to avoid such traps because they are typically more practical and, therefore, would focus on using breakthrough technologies to solve real life problems.”

Women have a “tendency to create solutions that can and will have a positive impact on humanity, the community, or the ecosystem that it addresses,” adds Kate Mollett, Senior Sales Director, Africa.

“The primary motivation is less about massive ‘quick’ financial gains and more about delivering something meaningful. Something that addresses a diverse set of challenges or requirements as well as creating a business that is financially successful, showing a steady and solid return on investment; these businesses are often more successful in the long run.”

Take action and make a change

This change is never going to happen overnight. But the sooner businesses start to implement policies to encourage women into the industry and support them once they are in, the more change we will see.

“Too often, businesses consider initiatives that drive such change to be too time-consuming or costly, but this does not have to be the case,” stresses Fanizzi. “From providing flexible hours for working mothers with childcare responsibilities to establishing initiatives for the women in the company to come together and support each other in a male-dominated environment, small steps can have a big impact. These will not only help to attract new female talent, but will improve retention of current female employees too.”  

Oylum Tagmac, Senior Director, International Partner Management, advocates for more visibility of women within the technology industry, explaining that, “there are so few female role models for girls to look up to. Seeing is believing so having women in leadership positions will be hugely inspiring to girls thinking about a career in tech.

“Mentoring is another key area in supporting women once they are in the industry by tapping into their knowledge and expertise whilst having someone to lean on. I have been very lucky to have great mentors throughout my career and I try to provide the same experience when I’m mentoring others.”

“The tech industry is making some progress in terms of hiring females but there are still elements of the industry that are not terribly inclusive,” Mollett adds. “The tech industry is still a ‘people’ business, where relationships are important and we still see a fair amount of recreational and social initiatives as part of the job. This is to ensure we capture the minds and hearts of our partners, alliance partners, or customers. It is these types of events that have not really evolved and still seem to be geared towards a more masculine audience.”

Advice and experience

The women at Commvault have pushed boundaries and overcome obstacles to be where they are today. Lena Halbourian, Snr Marketing Manager, SEEMEA, reveals that she never expected to end up in technology: “Having studied Advertising Art and being into fashion, I always thought my career would be in either one of those industries. However, when I first moved to the UAE, I landed a job in one of the biggest tech companies, where I started my career as a junior internal comm and marketing executive.

“My journey continued with another big player in the tech world as a Marketing Manager for the Middle East and Africa region. I was hooked and wanted to continue my career and go up the ladder! The tech industry eventually became my passion and here I am still, 15 years later!”

Yet, for Tagmac, she always knew that she was destined to be a woman in STEM: “Looking back, it is no surprise that I ended up in the technology industry. Maths and Science were always puzzles that I enjoyed solving. My parents were teachers and they encouraged me to go to a special high school with intensive science education. I guess that was the milestone in my life that defined my higher education and future career path!”

Elke Steinegger, Germany AVP, urges women to “research roles across the industry will reveal some new, upcoming and exciting opportunities. Be open to learning, build a network and find a mentor to guide you through and answer your questions. Most importantly, be brave, believe in yourself, have a plan and dream big!”

Mollett adds, “My advice to women is that you need to have a ‘yes’ mindset from the beginning, even though it can be outside of your comfort zone. You need to lean in and participate when the opportunity arises and if it doesn’t, you need to create your own opportunity. Be true to yourself and trust your instincts. Work hard and build a network with male and female potential mentors and allies. Be supportive to younger and more junior female colleagues as you see them come up through the ranks.”

“Believe in yourself, focus on the goal and never give up!” emphasises Tagmac. “It is all about perspectives. I see ‘I’m possible’ rather than impossible. I always tell my daughter about the Pareto law – 80% of results usually come from the 20%. I interpret this as women being able to have a big impact. We can make a difference to inspire and motivate other female talents! Don’t be scared to make mistakes, there are no failures but only learnings in life so please don’t wait. Whatever your passion is, go all in.”

The final note from Halbourian is simply to “be yourself, speak your mind and always make sure that your voice is heard and you have a seat at the table.”

To learn more about Commvault visit: www.commvault.com/

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com