90% of global businesses struggle with inclusion and diversity practices within their technology/ IT teams according to ‘The key to designing inclusive tech: creating diverse and inclusive tech teams’ report released by the Capgemini Research Institute.
Current inclusion and diversity practices in technology are inadequate. Recognition of a lack of inclusion from the top is a key enabler to access diverse communities. Organizations that focus on diversity and inclusion in their tech teams will benefit from innovation, revenue, and brand value opportunities, highlights the report.
Over the course of the pandemic, great pressure has been placed upon businesses to recruit tech talent from a shrinking pool. As enterprises have struggled to find the appropriate talent to fulfil their needs, the focus on good diversity and inclusion practices has slipped. A gulf has emerged between the leadership’s positive perception of inclusion in IT and tech teams and the harsh reality experienced by ethnic minority and female team members. According to the report, 85% of leadership executives believe their organizations provide equitable opportunities for career development and promotions to every employee across their organizations, but only 19% of women and ethnic minority employees agree. This misalignment adds to a perpetuating Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) problem across industries deploying technologies for end-users as leaders believe progress is being made, but tech employees on the ground remain pessimistic about the reality. The spectrum of the perception gap is vast. 75% of leadership executives believe that women and ethnic minorities feel a sense of belonging in their organizations, but only 24% of these employees in tech functions concur. 53% of women and ethnic minority employees feel comfortable sharing personal experiences with other employees and peers, whereas only 9% of them feel the same comfort level with their leadership.
Only 16% of women and ethnic-minority tech employees believe that they are well represented in tech teams. Further, in IT/tech teams, only one in five employees is female, and one in six is from an ethnic-minority community.
Consumers are aware of and are experiencing tech-based discrimination
Consumers face discriminatory technologies due to the lack of diversity and inclusion in technology divisions of global companies. In the financial services sector, for example, an average of 50% of consumers with a migration background believe that they have received less credit for certain banking products online, compared to 28% of customers who did not belong to this group. In healthcare, 43% of women and consumers from migrant communities believe they have not seen healthcare facilities in high-quality locations or in institutions offering highly specialized services.
As a result, consumers are concerned about discriminatory technology and are increasingly aware of how their data is being used and how it could negatively impact them. For example, two-thirds (66%) of consumers with a migration background say they are concerned that their personal data could be used to negatively affect their job prospects. The report highlights that organizations with diverse and inclusive technology teams are 4 times more likely to create inclusive products.
The report highlights that organizations with diverse and inclusive tech teams are 4 times more likely to create inclusive products.
Shobha Meera, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer and Group Executive Committee Member at Capgemini, comments: “In a world of increasing demand for tech-fueled products and services that are free of discrimination and are inclusive by design, the importance of inclusive tech workforces, cultures and practices, is more important than ever. And yet, we see a wide gap not only in the state of inclusive representation in the tech workforce of organizations, but also in the perceptions of leaders Vs women and ethnic minorities on the state of inclusion in tech. This report draws attention to the urgent need for organizations and leaders to embrace this reality and focus on improving diversity and inclusion in tech teams in a challenging talent environment.”
Organizations need to build an effective inclusion strategy, beyond upping education and awareness at the highest levels, concludes the report. Organizations need to deploy various processes, policies and value systems that champion inclusion. This includes diversity and anti-harassment policies, and a clear inclusion mandate for technology teams. Leaders of technology teams need to ensure that women and ethnic-minority employees are given equal opportunities for career growth, progression, and input into product development, while also building the tech and data foundations for measuring, monitoring and improving inclusion outcomes. Fairness in AI systems must also be deployed while checking and correcting for algorithmic biases. Lastly, organizations must keep diverse users at the heart of their product design, development and deployment processes.