Despite significant investment and prioritisation in EU policies, the percentage of women working in ICT professions has only grown from 17% to 18.5% in the last 7 years.
CEPIS DiversIT Charter, together with the German Informatics Society, the Fraunhofer ICT Group, and #SheTransformsIT, organised a conference to try to find solutions to this lack of meaningful progress in retaining female tech talent. This event was organised within the scope of the EU Diversity Month.
This free one-day conference, titled, ‘Stay in tech! – Policies and practices for attracting and retaining female tech talent’, aimed to help companies overcome these challenges and identify ways to retain valuable colleagues. It took place in Berlin on 14 May 2024.
Governments, companies, and non-profits across Europe have invested large sums of time and money into increasing the number of women working in tech. Initiatives such as the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy, Women4IT, and more, have made a huge impact in helping more women enter the tech sector.
Nevertheless, women remain underrepresented in the tech workforce. With a large focus on getting women and girls into tech, there also needs to be investment in retaining them. Challenges such as outdated stereotypes, lack of mentorship opportunities, isolation, and ‘bro culture’ in some organisations, boil down to a simple truth: if the workplace is bad, women will leave.
These tech-specific challenges only add on to the obstacles women face in other sectors, including balancing caring responsibilities, the gender pay gap, and biases around motherhood.
Speakers
Sarah Needham
Founder and CEO, Womxn for Climate Tech & Innovation
Nikolaus von Peter
Policy Advisor on Digitalisation, European Commission
Daniela Brönstrup
Head of Department of Digital and Innovation Policy, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection
Anjuli Mauer
CEO, People Pace
Byron Nicolaides
Founder and CEO, PeopleCert Group
Robert Baker
CEO, Potentia Talent Consulting Limited
Gillian Arnold
Managing Director, Tectre/Chair, DiversIT Charter
Bernd Holtaus
HR Director, Intel Magdeburg
Selcan Ipek-Ugay
Professor of Computer Science and Data Science, Berlin University of Applied Sciences
Ruth Asan
Deputy Equal Opportunities Officer, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Petra Kotuliakova
CEO, Aj Ty v IT
Edna Kropp
Tech Lead, LivePerson/Board member, GI
Lisa Ihde
Technical Account Manager, Google/Author
Alexander Nouak
Managing Director, Fraunhofer ICT Group
Begonia Vazquez-Merayo
Founder & Managing Director Why Consult powering net4tec | 4 WoMen Careers in Technology
Barbara Schwarze
Chair, Kompetenzzentrum Technik-Diversity-Chancengleichheit
Christian Berg
CEO, AllBright Stiftung
Sabine Otholt
Senior Vice President – Global Head of S/4HANA Strategic Customer Innovation, SAP
Luis Fernandez-Sanz
President, CEPIS
Jakub Christoph
Secretary General, CEPIS
Alexandrea Swanson
Managing Director, #SheTransformsIT
Agenda
09:30 – 10:00 Registration
Session 1: Present realities
| 10:00 | Opening Talk: Setting the Stage: Why are we here today? – Jakub Christoph, Secretary General, CEPIS – Sabine Kruspig, Specialist Group Women and Informatics, German Informatics Society – Alexander Nouak, Managing Director, Fraunhofer ICT Group – Alexandrea Swanson, Managing Director, #SheTransformsIT |
| 10:15 | Keynote: Germany’s Tech Gender Equality Initiatives – Daniela Brönstrup, Head of Department of Digital and Innovation Policy, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection |
| 10:30 | Keynote: Empowering Women to Reach the Top – Byron Nicolaides, Founder and CEO, PeopleCert |
| 10:45 | Fireside Chat: ‘Lonely at the top’ – (lack of) women in leadership Moderator: Maike Klein, German Informatics Society – Sabine Otholt, Senior Vice President – Global Head of S/4HANA Strategic Customer Innovation, SAP – Selcan Ipek-Ugay, Professor of Computer Science and Data Science, Berlin University of Applied Sciences |
| 11:30 | Coffee Break |
Session 2: Problems and solutions
| 12:00 | Understanding Women’s Tech Career Departures: 5 Key Reasons – Gillian Arnold, Managing Director, Tectre/Chair, DiversIT – Lisa Ihde, Technical Account Manager, Google/Author – Barbara Schwarze, Chair, Kompetenzzentrum Technik-Diversity-Chancengleichheit |
| 12:30 | Panel Discussion: Keeping the Talent: Best Practices for Retaining Women in Tech Jobs Moderator: Alexandra Resch, Editor, German Informatics Society – Edna Kropp, Tech Lead, LivePerson – Robert Baker, CEO, Potentia Talent Consulting – Petra Kotuliakova, CEO, Aj Ty v IT – Bernd Holthaus, HR Director, Intel Magdeburg |
| 13:45 | Lunch |
Session 3: Exploring the future
| 14:30 | Keynote: Navigating Europe’s Digital Landscape – Nikolaus von Peter, Political Advisor on Digitalisation, European Commission |
| 14:45 | Panel Discussion: Elevating Diversity: Bridging the Gender Gap in Tech Hiring Moderator: Mary Cleary, Member of the Board of Directors, CEPIS – Begonia Vazquez Merayo, Founder & Managing Director Why Consult powering net4tec | 4 WoMen Careers in Technology – Anjuli Mauer, Founder & CEO, People Pace – Ruth Asan, Deputy Gender Equality Officer, Fraunhofer – Christian Berg, CEO, Allbright Foundation |
| 15:45 | Keynote: Building Tomorrow: The Future of Tech is female! – Sarah Needham, Co-Founder, Womxn for Climate Tech & Innovation |
| 16:00 | Closing Remarks – Luis Fernandez-Sanz, President, CEPIS – Anna Sarah Lieckfeld, Head of Education and Society, German Informatics Society – Alexandrea Swanson, Managing Director, #SheTransformsIT – Ruth Asan, Deputy Equal Opportunities Officer, Fraunhofer |
| 16:00 – 17:30 Networking reception |
Platinum sponsor
Conference organised by
