Recruiting tips for tech employers hiring women

4 recruiting tips for employers looking to hire more women in tech

May 4, 2022 5:30 AM

The tech industry has traditionally been male-dominated — but it doesn’t need to stay that way. There’s enough room for everyone at the table, as long as employers are willing to do the work to create those opportunities.

While women hold half of all jobs in the U.S. and more than half of the college degrees, they only fill 26.7% of tech-related jobs, according to the WomenTech Network. Until the tech industry recognizes their role in the recruiting process, the statistics will remain startlingly low.

It’s a two-pronged problem, says Paula Ratliff, president of Women Impact Tech, an organization driving equity in tech: employers aren’t always implementing the right hiring practices, and women aren’t necessarily looking for them.

“It's a supply and demand problem,” Ratliff says. “Women are typically very loyal — once we do find a great career we have a tendency, more than our male counterparts, to stay at those organizations. We don’t search the market like our male colleagues do and take new opportunities as frequently. So recruiting for women in technology is really tough.”

Forty-eight percent of women in tech and STEM jobs reported some form of discrimination in the recruitment or hiring process — 66% of women reported a lack of a clear path forward in tech professions and 39% viewed gender bias as a significant barrier in tech job access, accoridng to Builitin, an online forum for startups.

The solution is to reimagine the approach to recruiting in its entirety and ensure that the environment employers are recruiting women into is safe, comprehensive and fair, Ratliff says. Here are her top tips:

Give women flexibility to manage every aspect of their lives

Unlike some of their male counterparts, women can be balancing an equally time-consuming and complex home life, as well as their work life. Offering female workers and applicants the flexibility to focus on both will be paramount.

“Of women that have been polled post-pandemic, only 22% are saying that they're willing or want to go back into the office full time,” Ratliff says. “Remote work is essential for women that are trying to balance caregiving in their home. The burden of having flexibility falls on an employer who embraces that.”

Design workplaces and benefits with women in mind

Wanting to recruit diverse talent will get employers nowhere if they don’t foster benefit plans and systems that cater to them.

“For persons of color, women, the LGBTQ community — all of that will matter,” Ratliff says. “If you are focused on recruiting that community and improving the workplace for that group, you have to choose benefits that will enhance that.”

The tech industry has the means and the resources to implement those changes, should they want to, Ratliff says. Employers should consider providing in-office childcare for working moms, broadening benefit offerings to include demographic specific health, and offering wellness options such as alternate family building options.

Build support systems beyond your DEI statements

Saying you support diversity and inclusion is one thing, but acting on it is another — and female employees and applicants know the difference.

“It is something else entirely to build a culture of support in business resource groups or in mentorship,” Ratliff says. “Ensure that underrepresented groups — those that are often the most bullied and least supported — have a support system, through a mentor and a sponsor that will help them within the company's culture, as well as help them advance their career, wherever they start in the organization.”

Equal pay should be inherent

Compensating your female base, both present and future, is non-negotiable because it will be imperative to fostering an equal playing field.

“Be as transparent as possible in your pay schedule and what that looks like at different ranges in your organization,” Ratliff says. “That transparency will go a very long way in recruiting and retaining talent that is underrepresented and often perceived to have the lesser of the pay equity with their colleagues in the workplace.”