Multiple industry studies have made clear that diversity in the workplace does not only improve an organisation’s culture but also has a significant impact on profitability and productivity. However, while workplace diversity has made significant strides across industries over the years, there remain disparities that need to be addressed.
“Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world,” says United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
In the technology sector, despite efforts to include more women, fewer than one in five IT professionals are female in many countries.
While global technology firms are expected to reach nearly 33 percent overall female representation in their workforces in 2022, according to Deloitte, change is still proving slow.
Closing the gender gap is important to the tech world. Big tech companies including Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta are making big push towards diversity in the workplace. However, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to address the gender imbalance in the tech sector. The best way to drive diversity and inclusivity is through information and representation in the industry.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we reached out to some of the leaders in the technology industry to get insights into how they are breaking the barriers to gender equality and how they are empowering women to explore opportunities in the world of tech.
Sandrine Moustafa El Khodry, Vice President Middle East & Africa, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise
“In my research for my PhD in Business, I have identified that the main challenge hindering women from obtaining leadership role is culture and how society views women who value professional careers. While I agree that there has been a lot of improvement, there are still roadblocks.
A career woman needs to be ready to tough competition and the burden to be able to achieve her goal. She must fight to acquire her place in leadership positions deal with the judgment of society. It is often assumed that successful career woman misses out on being a mother, wife, friend; which is not the case. In fact, a career woman works 10 times more than a man in the same position to acquire her legitimacy.
My research also highlights that promotions are mainly reserved for men. Sometimes women are in leadership positions just to respect the imposed quota, but they are not really given the opportunity to make a change. I believe that the world is moving toward a real positive evolution but still not here and roadblocks are still present in real life.
On my personal time, I mentor young women to support and encourage them to dare and take the next step. I believe that the change and this attitude must come from women young age and education. This is the reason why I am conducting some interventions in schools to inspire and encourage those young women to dare and to aim higher.
I am also mentoring women entrepreneurs who launched their own business but are struggling to make things happen. I do my very best to have a positive impact to lend support whenever needed
I also invest in key events and participate as a panellist or key speaker to encourage women to move forward in their careers.”
Carolyn Crandall, Chief Security Advocate and CMO, Attivo Networks
“Women need to take the time to help each other. Sometimes, we fight so hard that we don’t realize the impact of our actions.
Women in leadership roles can often be viewed as ‘aggressive.’ I have found that women often must work harder than men to be heard and taken seriously. Men appear to gain respect more automatically with their given title, whereas women with the same title often must fight for or be pushed to prove themselves to garner that same respect. But as we seek to advance our careers, we need to be mindful to have a positive effect on others and to not intentionally or accidentally create ‘roadkill’ of other women along the way. As the saying goes, be careful of who you burn on the way up as you might see them again on your way down.
Throughout my career, I have always sought out jobs that had scared me in some way. The skill or experience that I was missing, presented me with the opportunity to grow and be challenged. I encourage others to take big steps, but to also do this smartly by learning from others who have the skills, taking classes, or reading everything you can so that you become an expert in these new disciplines as well.”
Faten Halabi, Regional Sales Leader, Avaya
“Despite the enormous progress we’ve seen over the last 20 years or so, we still see a lot of tired old stereotypes holding women back. This is, more often than not, down to outdated company cultures. These attitudes hold the companies back, too – it’s plain to see that the most successful global companies endorse cultures that encourage and promote women leaders.
Nevertheless, every day we see more women taking leadership roles in the tech industry. They’ve earned these positions, and companies are realising the business benefits that empowering women leaders will bring. We see this in the Middle East just as much as in the rest of the world. Indeed, in some Middle East markets, you could even argue that they’re ahead of much of the world.
To do my part, I am coaching a number of young women within my organisation and beyond, guiding them as they advance their careers. I’m sharing my experiences with them, which will hopefully help them along their own journeys, as well as inspire them to work hard and pursue leadership roles, too.”
Isabella Groegor-Cechowicz, Vice President, Public Sector Sales, EMEA, AWS
“Since I started, the tech industry has really changed, but not just for women. I read a quote by Arthur Chan the other day that really resonated with me, he said, ‘“Diversity is a fact. Equity is a choice. Inclusion is an action. And belonging is the outcome.”’
What we’ve seen over time is that the tech sector is embracing this line of thinking and adapting their business models and recruitment practices accordingly. There is still much more to be done of course, but this increased awareness of the value and importance of building a diverse workforce that fosters a sense of belonging is a great thing to see happening right across the globe.
Whilst diversity in tech is improving at a rapid pace, more progress is still needed. As a woman working in tech, this is something I’m acutely aware of, and I know we still have a long way to go in improving diversity not just in relation to women, but to all under-represented communities. This is something I’m passionate about and something that I instil in my team. Diversity, equity and inclusion – they are all individually important, but when you have them all in place you create a sense of belonging, which is the best kind of work environment.”
Pratima Arora, Chief Product Officer, Chainalysis
“In many cases, women are different from men – some may say in fact they’re born different. I have a son and daughter, and honestly, they are just different human beings. Our society is trained to see leaders a certain way i.e. assertive and aggressive. Sometimes, these aren’t natural traits associated with women who are generally regarded as more empathetic and collaborative.
For years, we have been trying to train women to be more assertive and competitive, but we are not addressing the underlying problem. I strongly believe that women, or anyone else for that matter, should not be asked to change their behaviour as a way of addressing this situation; rather, organisations should train employees to change their perspectives. We need to get out of the stereotype and embrace new leadership styles.
As a role model, I help empower younger generations of women by showing up. There were so many moments I’ve experienced where I was ready to quit due to familial obligations, like having a sick child I needed to take care of for instance. But, I kept coming back because I wanted to show our younger generations that it can be done. Moms can not only run the house but can be successful leaders at work too. I am doing this for my daughter and any woman who needs to be reminded that they can be successful.
I also believed that mentoring and sponsoring women can make all the difference in how work is perceived. Speaking up and making sure they have equal opportunities in the workforce is vital.
Finally, I help ensure that our organisation foster a diverse workforce. Making sure companies have a diverse pipeline and a diverse team – one that reflects the world we live in – is important. Chainalysis, for instance, runs multiple women and diversity-focused groups where people can find others with mutual interests and backgrounds.”
Juveria Samrin, Head of Marketing, ColorTokens
“What I find interesting about the Middle East is how the cybersecurity and tech communities of women have grown in significance over the years. In the Middle East, women account for more than half of the students in STEM population. Whether it is Saudi Codes, a Misk Foundation initiative by Ministry of Communications and Technology, or Code for Girls, and even Dubai’s One Million Coders initiative – there’s a lot being done to empower women and girls to take up careers in STEM.
As a region that is culturally sound, and technologically significant, women have a great role to shape tech innovation, and I’m excited to see all the efforts in this direction.
As a leader, I make sure that I step up and own all those actions that can pave the way for other women around me. I’m focusing my efforts on building a team of women in tech talent and growing them as ambassadors of change within the organisation, and externally. I am blessed to work with a team of very talented women at ColorTokens, as well as being part of mentorship initiatives that focus on women entrepreneurs.
This however is just the beginning, and I am hoping to do a lot more as we move along. As a Woman in Technology Marketing, I’d like to reassure all the women out there that there are many opportunities in this arena for all of us to share than compete for a small piece of the pie! I recall a great quote by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: ‘Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.’”
Mor Levi, Vice President, Global Security Practices, Cybereason
“I see positive signs that women are seeking out roles and working extremely hard in the industry. No matter where you were born or what your ethnicity is, there is a role in technology for everyone, including women. There is always more that I can do and my colleagues can do to promote diversity and inclusion in the technology world and in business in general.
Personally, I make sure to lead by example and hopefully that is inspiring my co-workers to become more vocal and participate on a level playing field. I’d encourage younger generations to show a curiosity in all aspects of life and if you don’t know the answer to a question, seek out a response from people around you. It is also extremely important to believe in yourself.
I have found a career that I love, and it inspires me on a daily basis to do the best I can to help our customers that are facing constant threats from hackers and nation-state sponsored cybercriminals. I stand with millions of other women around the world to celebrate how blessed we are to be making an impact locally and globally. I hope I can inspire younger girls and women to take the torch and forge their own path in the years ahead.”
Simone Larsson, AI Evangelist, Dataiku
“Bias is the primary barrier to success for women working in tech. A few years ago, I was the portfolio manager for an AI programme at a UK Central Government Department. My deputy was fifteen plus years older and a male. When engaging with stakeholders, they often assumed that my colleague was the Portfolio Director, and I was his assistant. Such preconceptions will no doubt still linger today.
Around the same time, I participated in a panel discussion that explored the barriers to success for women working in tech. I spoke with women (aged 55+) who shared their stories about the beginning of their career in tech during the 1980s. They noted that within this decade, there were around four times as many women working in tech than at that time. I couldn’t help but imagine if those women stayed in their career and ascended to senior leadership?
To overcome this bias, men should become allies to resolving this issue. If more men supported and advocated for women in the workplace, a paradigm shift would be more possible.
There are multiple things that companies can do to support women in tech, including initiatives such as Women in Leadership programmes that clearly define a path to leadership positions for high performers. Companies should also be highlighting stories of men choosing to stay at home with young children who then return to their careers, as opposed to assuming this is the mother’s role. It would also be great to see companies offering more workshops focused on bias in the workplace and the negative effects of ‘mansplaining’ — a phenomenon that gets compounded the more senior you are. Finally, companies should be offering men and women in tech flexible working and incentivising working parents to partake in this benefit.”
Eylem Aydin Oruc, Unstructured Data Solutions Sales Director – MERAT, Dell Technologies
“There has been more young women aspiring for roles in the tech industry in the Middle East, but we can still do better. Tech gender divide goes back further than just employment. It begins at an education level and there needs to be additional initiatives to encourage girls to find tech subjects appealing. A lack of female role models, and lack of information on what working in the sector involves, is reinforcing the perception that a technology career isn’t for them. Therefore, over the years, it has become clear to me that to start with the younger generation is half the battle won. Creating new opportunities in STEM education, and setting up sponsorship and mentorship programs to engage girls in technology is a good starting point. Educational institutes should promote apprenticeships as an option for all and challenge traditional gender stereotyping from an early stage. With that, we’ll definitely see even more young women seek careers in technology.
There is also a lot of progress made thanks to the increasingly active measures taken by the governments to address this issue. With the UAE putting laws in place to promote gender equality, the country is emerging as the highest ranked Arab country on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021. Interestingly, statistics from the UAE Gender Balance Council show that 56% of the UAE’s graduates in STEM courses at government universities are women.
As a woman who works in the traditionally male-dominated technology sector, I feel that the empowerment of women, especially in the technology sector, is a cause I hold close to my heart. I hope as younger generations see more women in tech, they will be empowered to start carving their path and following their hearts towards a career path in technology. Women have a lot to offer to the field, so know your worth, build a strong network of supporters and make sure you are in a place where you are heard and recognised.”
Eva Andrén, Vice President and Head of Managed Services for Ericsson Middle East and Africa
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen the Middle East’s tech industry boom largely thanks to the various digital transformation initiatives undertaken by governments across the region.
With this growth in the region’s tech industry, and a variety of government initiatives in place to empower women into the workforce, we are seeing a large number of female talents, especially young students, venture into the world of technology.
As a leading player in the tech industry, we have committed ourselves to develop local talent across the region and have implemented programs to drive local innovation and develop the region’s talent competencies. An outstanding example of this is our 5G Innovation Hub that we launched in Saudi Arabia, which saw 100 local fresh graduates from the nation’s leading universities, 50 percent of them female, join the program, helping us develop a wide range of 5G use cases across different industries and segments for consumers and enterprises. Another outstanding example is the AI HUB in Egypt where we have an outstanding example of female engineers on advanced certification level leading the way for the future.
As a role model, how are you paving the way for younger generations to become future leaders?
I believe education is the key to empowering today’s younger generation to become future leaders. Therefore, I encourage every young person to go forth and seek educational opportunities in fields they are truly passionate about. Moreover, I also believe organisations themselves have a huge role to play in shaping young people to become tomorrow’s leaders.”
Ghina El Kassem, Regional Strategic Sales Lead – Partnerships MEA & CIS Regions and Partnerships Officer for Women@Finastra
“I joined the tech industry as a young professional seven years ago, and I have seen a massive uptick in initiatives for women in the Middle East ever since. Many multinational companies are creating more and more opportunities for young women to join the tech industry. There is, of course, still a lot of work to be done, but the numbers are clearly showing that women can and are excelling in this industry.
I am a true believer in giving back and helping younger generations to gain more opportunities in the tech industry, while also encouraging them to adopt a new way of thinking outside of the ‘normal’ way of business. For example, I am currently working with one young professional to help her build her confidence and personal brand. We’ve mapped out ways to increase her internal and external networks and, through workplace shadowing and regular mentorship, develop the skills required to become a leader.
As a Partnerships Officer for Women@Finastra, a big part of my role is also to create synergies with other technology and like-minded organisations, to create a better environment for future leaders.”
Barbara Maigret, Global Head of Sustainability & CSR, Fortinet
“With the digitalisation of the world we live, I think the younger generation of women are naturally more exposed to technology, which helps grow their interest in industry like ours. However, there’s still a lot of work to be done to attract young women in our industry.
It’s important for everyone to understand that being a leader is not just about getting the position, it’s much more than that. It starts by respecting people, listening to them and making them feel valued. On my teams, I’ve always fostered collaboration and support because trust and respect are the foundation of good leadership. When you make younger generations understand that when you truly care about people, they are more motivated to be part of the team and go beyond to help achieve results, you put them on the right path to become good leaders.
My mantra is ‘lead by example’. That’s another key element I’ve tried to teach young people on my team: in order to get credibility as a leader, you, as an individual, must deliver and inspire your teams to do the same while supporting them when they under achieve by working with them to identify the roots of the issue. And finally, you have to put your team members in the light, reward them for their results and encourage ideas and new approaches. That way, they’ll, in turn, inspire people and be on their way to become true leaders.”
Farida Tejan, Project Manager, FTFT Capital
“On the face of it, the technology industry seems to be one of the most favourable for women’s growth and advancement, but I believe it still faces conventional ‘old boys club’ challenges. Numerous organisations are still owned and governed by a narrow demographic, resulting in cultures that are neither inclusive nor supportive of women. That said, it does seem as if the tides are changing, particularly in the tech start-up environment, where I often see a concerted effort to diversify the workforce and make it more inclusive of women at all levels.
Here in the Middle East, I have spoken with many young women who aspire to assume roles in the technology industry, and it’s so encouraging to see that they are defying misconceptions that this is not something women do.
Right now, the tech industry is offering flexibility and innovation on a vast scale which can only appeal to women at all stages in their careers and lives. This is particularly true in the region. According to the Arab Gulf State Institute, 40 percent of university students in the Middle East who specialize in technology-related fields are female. These women are poised to assume leadership positions in the technology sector in the foreseeable future.”
Anastasia Tikhonova, Head of Advanced Persistent Threats Research, Group-IB
“Being a Woman in Tech for me is about collaboration and improvement.
A woman working in tech thinks about what she can do to make things better. Whenever she is solving a problem, she tries to make things work better than ever before.
In addition, a woman working in tech forms a team of supporters. She is surrounded by people of different cultures, religions, origins, interests, and skills, respecting and supporting each other. And everyone benefits from this diversity to drive innovation. The team learns and grows together, helping each other along the way. She invests and cares about the success of every team member.
I try to demonstrate by my example that even if it is not easy from the start, you should not give up but rather move forward while staying true to your principles. During interviews, webinars, and daily interactions, I encourage young people to strive for more and never stop thinking big. Combined with the ability to think outside the box, these are the ways forward to becoming a leader in the future.”
Dina Aboonoq, Managing Partner-Country Manager IBM Consulting Saudi Arabia
“I believe in providing equality of opportunity and ensuring that women have the same opportunities as men. Many members of my leadership team are ladies. I use my position to be an example of what women can achieve in this industry and also to use my position to create opportunities for the younger generations – of both genders – to build skills, grow their experience, and assume greater responsibilities.
As a ‘woman in tech’, I am aware that, in some parts of the world, this is considered a relatively male-dominated industry. For this reason, I think it means I have a responsibility to be a good example and proof of what is possible and so that young women can look to me and see that it is possible to reach leadership positions in this industry. To be this example, I need to be visible and I need to be accessible.”
Sabine Holl, Vice President Technical Sales and Chief Technology Officer, IBM Middle East and Africa
“Compared to western university the number of STEM graduates ranges in the 50 percent and higher range depending on the country you are looking at in the Middle East. The challenge I experience is how to attract them to join the workforce. Again, this requires engaging early with students, create awareness of the job profiles we are looking for and provide work experience at an early stage, so they are excited to join a large corporation like IBM. Decision points not just for young women but men equally are not just the type of job or financial compensation. They also aspire to work for an organisation with a strong social responsibility and solutions focusing on sustainability and reducing carbon footprint.
I started in IBM many years as a graduate. Along my career journey I had amazing mentors and support from my leaders. It is now time to give back. I mentor young talent inside in IBM as well as externally, I actively participate as sponsor in IBM’s leadership programs, and I have launched several graduate and early professional hire programs with a focus on diversity to build the next generation of technical experts and leaders.”
Marata Carroz Tapsoba, Senior Advisor, Global Acquisitions, Idoneus
“Among the challenges hindering women from attaining leadership roles is the difficulty to combine work and personal life. Another difficulty is the unjustified series of family and social precepts of certain stereotypes regarding women’s capacity of empowering drastic changes, regardless of one being more comfortable, manageable, agile, and curious in the use of new technologies. Thus, women are underrepresented at all levels, despite the fact that more and more studies show that closing the gender gap at high levels of responsibility does work.
However, a lot has changed with this pandemic. People are working flexibly and proving that the most important aspect is to seek how to add value instead of working harder or longer. This will naturally rebalance the gender party in society.
As an industry leader, I always encourage others to do their best, be visible, effective, and efficient. I remind younger generations of how powerful, intelligent, competent, and wonderful they are. Emphasizing the fact that they must believe in their dreams and make professional freedom their most valuable goal. I try to instil the belief in them that when they do what they are passionate about, they will excel and their freedom hunt will lead them to leadership or self-employment. Hence, nothing is impossible. Younger generations need to know that the present and future are driven by innovation and technology.”
Maya Zakhour, Channel Director for Middle East and Africa, Italy and Spain, NetApp
“Leadership roles across sectors are still very much reserved for men. Women’s professional progress has taken a blow, worsened by the pandemic, and the financial, mental and emotional toll is high.
Many women capable of attaining leadership roles find themselves stuck in the same position for years and unable to be promoted. They often find themselves stereotyped into doing certain roles that aren’t challenging enough or don’t make use of their professional skills. This calls for a systemic change within companies – requiring them to look at how their culture, hiring processes, leadership values can be enhanced or adapted to allow more women with the opportunity to excel at what they do.
As a leader, I understand that being a role model is a huge responsibility. I believe in leading by example, building trust and offering support and encouragement to anyone looking to progress in their career. I also believe that building mutually beneficial and strong relationships is important to succeed in a competitive environment. By sharing my best practise in the workplace and demonstrating that I’ve progressed all these years with dedication and working hard and smart. Identifying and motivating young talent and recognising their core skills helps me provide the right advice and guidance for anyone looking to build a career in tech. I also encourage a fair workplace and strongly value integrity and tenacity to succeed by giving young talent challenges and opportunities to push their capability to learn and flourish.”
Simran Bagga, Head of Engineering at Omnix International
“There’s been a radical shift in the tech industry over the last few decades with gender diversity and inclusion high on the agenda in most tech companies, especially in the Middle East. Continuous learning, acquiring new skills, being a trusted advisor, having a can-do attitude, fostering strong partnerships have been instrumental in overcoming the gender discrimination and providing a level playing field. There’s a lot more work to be done to encourage women to be proactive, agile and lead from the front.
When one woman helps another, amazing things can happen. Professional careers leap forward. The answers are out there: give girls role models, teach them the skills they will need, encourage them, and show them that tech careers will help change the world for the better. By 2030, women can and will be critical to leveraging this revolution to benefit our global society.
For my part, I empower by driving new initiatives, encouraging them to step out of their comfort zone, accept a new challenge quarterly, introducing recognition and rewards for high achievers, helping women in my organisation to identify mentors, recruiting more young females with a clear intent to balance gender diversity, harnessing their skill set and more. I believe these all contribute to the making of future tech leaders.”
Doaa Saleh, Sr Customer Success Manager – MEA, OutSystems
“To empower younger generations for tech leaders, we need to show them the way and to lead by example. The easiest way to convince someone about doing something is to do it yourself and show the result. For example, one of the approaches we use when someone new joins is to ask them to shadow other teammates, this enables them to learn how to get the knowledge faster and help them to see their mentor in action.
Also, leaders should be innovative, and innovation needs space so leaders shall not micromanage, but motivate, empower, and give productive feedback.
The value of having women in tech has been proved since it has been historically male-dominated. Recognising the difference now shows that barriers are being removed and this stereotyping changed, and diversity as a concept now is a fact.”
Sonal Bisht, Head of Corporate Communications, EMEA, Poly
“The Middle East is the hub for next-generation talent, and I see loads of good opportunities out there for grabs. I have heard about, and from, several women who actively decide to opt out of job applications because they feel they aren’t ‘skilled enough’ for the role. A message I’d like to share with these women is, you might not have acquired the skills yet, but you will get there soon. No one gets to the next level or next job with a full roster of skill sets. You will learn on the job.
There is an inherent skepticism in women that is engrained into us from our school, university, and early career days because we typically don’t get to see many women role models around us. If you don’t show up, you are automatically not supporting the next generation and the problem will continue. You will not always have an idea, but you might have a contribution to the idea that will elevate you. It’s important to get yourself out there.”
Kim Coombs, Vice President, Human Resources, EMEA at Riverbed | Aternity
“Gender biases continue to exist, creating working environments that are not always conducive to women having the opportunity to reach senior level roles within organisations. It is perhaps surprising to think that stereotypes linked to appearance and pregnancy, and character biases such as women being emotional or irrational are still prevalent.
We still see that most senior level roles, or roles with greatest responsibility and/or decision making in areas such as sales, finance, and technical engineering (development) are held by men. However, I do see progress and remain optimistic and believe that with steady, determined effort, these challenges can and will be overcome.
As a mother of two daughters, I have raised them to be independent, open minded and curious and I have tried to instil them with courage and resilience to tackle head on any barriers they will face and not to give up. In other ways I am unapologetically authentic, something I feel I learned too late in life after many years of trying to ‘fit in with the crowd’ and so this is something I try to help other women to embrace during their journey, through demonstrating that myself and through feedback, coaching moments, mentoring and any opportunity that presents itself.
It is genuinely a privilege to belong to a world leading industry sector. It also comes with great responsibility to use my influence in the time that I have, to drive progress for future women leaders in the industry.”
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