While technology continues to drive economic advancement, the STEM gender bias within tech has remained as stubborn as ever. Now, the United Nations wants to change the game.
The UN dives in
The UN is still the biggest heavyweight in global cooperation, and programs that start here can influence millions of people in different societies across the globe.
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Effective or not, the UN attempts to tackle tough challenges, which is why the multilateral organization isn’t shying away from promoting gender equality — a stubborn issue in both rich and developing countries. One node of our economy where we see a massive female deficit is in the technology sector, something that must change if we are to address overall income inequality.
With this in mind, the UN just launched a global initiative that seeks to increase the number of “women and girls involved in technology by 2030.”
From The Street:
The program, entitled EQUALS: The Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age, aims to bridge the gender gap globally to create equality for women and girls in the tech by providing equal access to technology, offering more opportunities to develop and hone their skills and promoting women to become leaders and entrepreneurs. The ITU is a United Nations agency for information and communication technologies while UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment.
EQUALS sets out to completely eliminate, or substantively diminish, the digital divide between men and women. For evidence, look no further than the fact that, globally, there are 250 million more males on the internet than females. In very poor countries, the statistics are even more lopsided, because males are overwhelmingly more like to have digital access in resource-scarce nations.
The program seeks buy-in from tech companies globally, because ultimately they are the actual people who do the hiring. The project is open-ended in the sense that the leaders of EQUALS encourage anyone to partnership in their efforts.
Takeaway
Diversity is largely common sense. Beyond the basic morality, there is ample research that demonstrates the power of diversity on the bottom line. Companies that employ people that are better representative of their consumer base tend to be more profitable.
We too often fall victim to surrounding ourselves with like-minded people and create echo chambers that reinforce groupthink. That’s counterproductive for companies who want to appeal to a wide audience with disposable dollars.
Moreover, the tech sector is defining our economic future. If women and other historically disadvantaged groups, like ethnic minorities, continue to be poorly represented, they will not enjoy the prosperity that emanates from the tech sector.
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