Gender based inequality and discrimination is a subject of debate across the globe. Although the Gulf region has made a conscious effort to reduce the gender gap, a lot needs to be done from a social and cultural standpoint.
Governments in the region have been supporting initiatives and programmes that aim to boost the number of working women in the Middle East.
To bring change in an industry like IT that has traditionally been male-dominated, we need to encourage girls to explore new career paths, implement sustainable female inclusion programs and invest in hiring more women.
Additionally, industry stakeholders must advocate for equal opportunities for women to exist and succeed in the workplace. There also needs to be more mentorship for women at school and university levels when they are trying to choose their career path.
According to a study conducted by UN Women, gains in educational attainment for girls have not translated into a significant increase in women’s participation in the labour force, which remains extremely low in Arab States, particularly for young women.
There is a clear need to increase efforts towards achieving gender equality and creating opportunities that will allow women to contribute to every industrial, scientific and technological sector.
Nokia and UN Women are working on a joint initiative to advance the recruitment, retention and promotion of women in the tech sector and promoting the tech sector to women STEM graduates in Saudi Arabia.
With the launch due in September, we sat down with Nicole Arian Markazi, Head of UN Women Program Lead at Nokia, to discuss the challenges facing women trying to enter to the STEM field and how diverse leadership can help create a gender-responsive workplace.
What are the biggest challenges when it comes to female employment? How is Nokia working to identify and address such challenges?
While the number of women in STEM subjects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) universities is increasing, female employee numbers in the private tech sector are yet to increase proportionally.
In Nokia KSA, the female application response rate to technology jobs could be better. This is why we have collaborated with the UN Women (UNW) in the Arab region to understand the reasons behind this.
It is essential to develop the right initiatives to encourage more women to enter the STEM field and Nokia. One of our working streams in the project with UN Women will survey female STEM students in KSA to gain insights on women aspirations when it comes to working in tech companies.
This data will guide us in further focussing on the setup of the working environment in tech companies to attract Saudi female talents.
How is Nokia developing its support for budding female technologists? Can you share how the “Nokia KSA – UN Women” joint initiative works to further such goals?
Networking is one of our biggest focus areas. We need role models to inspire women about possibilities and provide reflection on the benefits of being a female technologist.
To achieve this, we will strengthen Nokia’s strong buddy system in KSA, which will assign an experienced female employee from our global pool to new females joining our company. Not only will such a system allow the newcomers to get guidance from a female perspective, it will also allow an early exchange of experiences.
UN Women supports us here with strong outreach programs to further network with other companies and stakeholders from the technology sector.
Given the need for young women’s empowerment in the tech industry, what kind of innovative approaches do we need?
The tech industry is historically built with more men than women. To encourage women to be part of it, some principles and beliefs must change.
Research indicates that women and men have different leadership styles. Therefore, female leadership behaviour needs to be accepted, acknowledged and respected in the tech industry.
One of our projects supported by UN Women is focusing exactly on this aspect. We use a female leadership approach to create balanced technology solutions for female end users.
This is a truly innovative approach as we focus on the needs and challenges of females and then design the technology solution to address them by female employees in Nokia.
How does the initiative help advance the recruitment, retention and promotion of women in the tech sector?
The goal of our collaboration with UN Women is to increase the number of female employees at Nokia and STEM in the Middle East in general.
As a first step, we have analysed recruitment and retention challenges at Nokia Saudi. We have started with data collection from Nokia HR, hiring managers and female employees in Saudi through interviews, workshops and surveys.
The outcome helps us to design focused initiatives for the areas of recruitment, the onboarding process, professional career growth, inclusion at work and a well-connected work community.
With UN Women, we will then create an action plan for Nokia to serve as a reference point for other companies.
How can we encourage more women to pursue technology as a career?
To attract more women, corporate tech companies need to change. Inclusive working conditions, leadership styles, and technology development processes need to be its foundation.
Women should not play a passive role and wait for the change to happen. They should drive this change and be brave to enter the current state of tech companies and start changing it from within.
Only a purpose and vision for the future that is created by women can be the driver. ‘Be a game changer’ should be the strong message to girl students deciding about their future jobs. Women from within the industry together with strong partners like the UN Women, should raise this awareness.
