Hiring for gender diversity in tech

Abstract

PurposeGender diversity, or in-diversity, has long been a problem in the tech industry. Until now, significant gaps and barriers still exist. This paper examines how recruitment practices within the technology sector can contribute to gender inequality and how recruitment practices can be improved to support a gender-diverse organization.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopted library research and case study as papers' methodologies.FindingsThere are many benefits of gender diversity, including better performance, better financial returns, and lower volatility. However, most tech companies do not make diversity a priority, and usually display conscious or unconscious gender biases. Some of the recommendations to overcome this diversity issue are to make diversity a goal, offer unconscious bias training, and expand recruitment efforts.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that companies not pursuing a diverse workforce are in danger of experiencing lags in innovation and could be left behind. The findings also show that a technology company can increase the diversity of the company's workforce by applying practices that have already proven to be successful.Originality/valueThis paper confirms that gender parity is not just a social mission nor is gender parity solely a public relations initiative to improve a company's image. Technology companies must be continually innovating to thrive in companies' highly competitive and rapidly changing industry.