Why Do We Still Have a Diversity Problem in the IT Channel?
…and what are companies doing about it? Five firms weigh in.
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While the IT channel has traditionally been male-dominated, the same applies to cybersecurity.
Camilla Currin is channel account manager at Trend Micro. She believes the cybersecurity channel has been making some progress — but there is still have a long way to go.
“When I look back to how things were five years ago, I can say with certainty that we have made some inroads to changing the culture in our industry,” she said.
“I feel that we now have an understanding that having multigender participants in an organization brings different perspectives to solving business challenges. We have hopefully learned over the past few years that diversity of thought is priceless within organizations.”
Currin said the cybersecurity industry (among other industries) still needs to work hard to shift the male-dominated culture. This includes changing the way firms recruit and improving how they talk about the industry.
It also involves improving how the younger generation is educated. Additionally, encouraging female role models “to raise their profiles and talk openly about their work and why they’re passionate about it.”
“The consequences of having a cybersecurity workforce lacking in diverse perspectives would make the industry a sad place to be. We would be challenged with a lack of broad-minded thinking, a lack of creativity, perspective and really when it comes down to it, a lack of growth. It would weaken the cyber industry and we would miss out on so much potential talent.”
“We need to continue to unearth the talent that’s out there to create a more inclusive environment for all.”
Gavin Jones is director of wholesale channel at BT Wholesale. He believes there is a great deal of positive movement within the channel to better support a diverse workforce. However, he too thinks there are still challenges present.
“One challenge, which isn’t exclusive to the channel, is businesses’ ability to support diversity all the way up to the most senior of its leadership. Studies have shown that there is still a disparity in the number of diverse groups present in more senior roles. We must ensure that support systems and schemes on diversity don’t just aid those coming into the industry but are available to those working in the channel, no matter their seniority.”
At BT Wholesale, a key aspect of supporting diversity is dispelling the myth that people must go through university as the only route into employment in the technology space.
“Offering apprenticeships ensures a larger variety of people have the opportunity to work within the channel. We are proud that thousands of apprentices from a variety of backgrounds have benefitted from our scheme. Almost 80% of apprentices that qualified more than five years ago still with the business”.
“BT also has 10 different diversity networking groups throughout the business, giving people support and community structures to engage with other people that may be facing the same challenges. These include gender equality, ethnicity, LGBT+, ability, faith and carers’ networks.”
“These networks are crucial to ensuring that all issues our workforce may face or worry about can be brought to light and engaged with, to make a concrete difference to our culture and the way we operate.”
Another initiative is the BT Ethnicity Rapid Action Plan. “We have introduced a new program of mandatory race awareness training for everyone in BT. Board members of our Executive Committee have committed to either having an ethnic minority reverse mentor or serving as a non-executive director for a community organization supporting ethnic minorities.”
The firm has also created a new fast stream for high-potential people from ethnic minority backgrounds. All will be personally mentored by one of the senior leadership team and have diverse shortlists for every senior management role.
Simultaneously spearheading diversity initiatives and working on the front line is HR.
Donna Bain is senior vice president people and development at distributor Westcon-Comstor. She acknowledges the years of cultural bias and stereotypes that have plagued the IT industry. This has discouraged many women from pursuing a career in the field, she says.
“With the channel in particular always seemingly one step behind.”
“One way to address this perception problem is for channel businesses to do more to highlight female role models within their workforces. By removing the stigma around female representation in more senior levels of business, we … inspire girls to enter the industry. [We] also make it clear to both girls and boys that this is an industry that anyone can thrive in,” she says.
Westcon-Comstor is undertaking several initiatives including companywide unconscious bias training. This is to address the culturing and conditioning that many of us have grown up with. It is also looking at apprenticeship schemes that are linked to technology — in cybersecurity, for example, where there is a real skills gap.
“One of our apprenticeships is aimed at upskilling people who belong to the BME community. The scheme is part of our Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) initiative which is designed to address inequalities of the past.”
Importantly, as part of its ONEWestcon program, the distributor has hosted events for employees that have focused on different aspects of women’s health, including menopause.
“It’s crucial that we remove the stigma attached to these issues, normalizing conversation and encouraging more of a level playing field where unnecessary stigmas don’t impact anyone’s well-being,” says Bain.
She does note however, “We will put our hands up and tell you that we’re not perfect. We’re trying hard to ensure we employ more women and close the gender pay gap. Though we still have some way to go, addressing these imbalances is a key priority for the company, and we are putting all our efforts into ensuring we make it happen.”
Jill Gates is vice president, culture and people experience, Europe and Asia, at Ensono. She believes the channel should consider diversity as a core part of their business strategy. This is especially important when it comes to talent acquisition and retention.
“The ongoing skills shortage facing the sector, while presenting a challenge, also offers the channel an opportunity to build a more diverse talent pipeline. If businesses can diverge from traditional hiring practices and expand training opportunities to attract untapped talent into careers in tech, diversity in the channel will continue to grow.”
Gates points to several initiatives that companies can get involved in to encourage talent from underrepresented groups. The UK government’s Kickstart Scheme provides funding for employers to provide training for young adults on universal credit. Meanwhile the Your Future, Your Ambition (YFYA) initiative aims to attract and encourage young people into STEAM careers. Education charity Future Frontiers works with organizations to provide coaching and mentoring to learners from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them fulfil their potential at school.
“These are just a few great examples of schemes and initiatives that channel partners can get involved with to help improve the diversity of the tech talent pipeline and workforce.”
Fernanda Catarino is head of channel, alliances and ecosystem Europe, product business at Fujitsu. She notes that diversity is crucial to drive innovation.
“Being able to draw on a wide variety of perspectives and ideas allows us to challenge established ideas and to innovate more effectively. We also know that diverse companies perform better, are more successful at recruiting and retaining employees, and have more engaged workforces. But despite this, women remain underrepresented in IT.”
Catarino too attributes the gender imbalance to the false impression that a career in technology is more suitable for men, or for people with deep technical skills.
“That’s clearly not the case at all. But these false beliefs are stopping many women from exploring the rich possibilities offered by a career in technology. I would go so far as to argue that technology companies present incredible opportunities for anyone in any non-technical professions.”
These could be anything from lawyers to human resources to marketing team members.
“It’s also a self-perpetuating problem,” she adds. “If women or people from different minority groups don’t see themselves represented in various positions, it’s much less likely that they will consider them as current or future employment possibilities. As an industry we should do a better job of shining a light on the many valuable contributions of extraordinary people from many different backgrounds. This will have the effect of creating potential role models and ensuring that the industry benefits from more diverse future generations.”
Fernanda Catarino is head of channel, alliances and ecosystem Europe, product business at Fujitsu. She notes that diversity is crucial to drive innovation.
“Being able to draw on a wide variety of perspectives and ideas allows us to challenge established ideas and to innovate more effectively. We also know that diverse companies perform better, are more successful at recruiting and retaining employees, and have more engaged workforces. But despite this, women remain underrepresented in IT.”
Catarino too attributes the gender imbalance to the false impression that a career in technology is more suitable for men, or for people with deep technical skills.
“That’s clearly not the case at all. But these false beliefs are stopping many women from exploring the rich possibilities offered by a career in technology. I would go so far as to argue that technology companies present incredible opportunities for anyone in any non-technical professions.”
These could be anything from lawyers to human resources to marketing team members.
“It’s also a self-perpetuating problem,” she adds. “If women or people from different minority groups don’t see themselves represented in various positions, it’s much less likely that they will consider them as current or future employment possibilities. As an industry we should do a better job of shining a light on the many valuable contributions of extraordinary people from many different backgrounds. This will have the effect of creating potential role models and ensuring that the industry benefits from more diverse future generations.”
It is almost universally acknowledged that we continue to have a diversity problem in the IT channel. This could be a lack of diversity in leadership roles, sexual harassment or in worse cases, creating an atmosphere of bullying. In many cases it is a lack of representation that continues to put people off from considering a career in the channel.
The fact is diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is central to recruiting and maintaining talent. It is vital for innovation and bringing diversity of thought to the table.
As such, vendors, distributors and channel partners are rolling out initiatives to improve diversity within their organizations. From unconscious bias training to apprenticeships to menopause support, we find out what channel firms are doing to address the diversity problem.
Click on the slideshow above to discover what they told us.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Christine Horton or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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