Name : Rinah Ulfa
NPM : 17213724
Class : 4ea12
MAR
13, 2017 @ 11:59 PM 4,885 Sell In May & Walk Away: 6 Stocks to Dump
It is no secret that I am a big advocate for remote teams.
Since launching my startup in Bali, I have hired top talent from all over the world to help build Mailbird into what
it is today.
While many companies
are starting to realize the benefits of remote work, it is still a work
structure that has yet to be embraced by the masses. However, for women, the ability to work from home runs
much deeper than a reduced commute time and increased productivity. Remote work
is a chance for the tech industry to close its infamous gender gap.
International Womens
Day celebrated for remote working women in Bali
The Problem with the Gender Gap in Tech
These days, everyone seems to have their own reasons for the
gender imbalance in tech. Some argue that tech companies have male-centric
cultures and as a result hire men over women regardless of skills and aptitude.
Katharine Zaleski, a founder of PowerToFly, a remote work
job site for women, has a different theory. She believes that the reason there
aren't more women in tech is that companies are not giving women, especially
mothers, the flexibility they need to pursue their career and raise a family at
the same time.
Let’s Look At the Cold Hard Facts
The lack of flexibility in the workplace is not a new theory
in the gender gap studies. According to Pew Research Center, 51 percent of women said being a
working mother made it harder for them to advance their careers while only 16%
percent of fathers felt the same way. The same study also found that 42 percent
of mothers reduced their work hours to make time for their growing families
while just 28% of fathers said the same.
This claim is further supported by the National Center for Women & Information Technology.
Their report found that as many as 56% of women leave their tech jobs
mid-career.
Another study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also found that
one-third of women surveyed
had left the tech industry because companies were not flexible enough to
accommodate an adequate work-life balance.
With statistics like these, I think it is safe to say the problem with the
gender imbalance in tech does not lie within the lack of female candidates or
male-centric office cultures. It lies with companies holding on to archaic
working environments.
By continuing to vouch for a structure
that impacts a women's career prospects and financial well-being, it affects
the economy as a whole. The fewer women in tech means more jobs will go
unfulfilled and this will spur stagnation in innovation and global competitiveness.
The Solution: A Flexible Working Environment
The inclusion of women in the workforce has changed how we
work.
It has made women feel
pressured into choosing between their careers or families. As a result,
our working environments need to change, and remote work is a viable option.
Companies need to adapt and change their structures to give
employees a healthy work-life balance
especially if they want to keep retention rates high.
A 2017 study by professional recruiter Robert Walters and
leading UK job board Jobsite found that remote working opportunities
are top priorities for women in tech. 76%
of women surveyed said that the chance to work remotely was necessary if
companies wanted to retain long term staff.
Dawn May, a manager at
Robert Walters, commented on the findings, saying: “Particularly among
tech firms, the freedom to work remotely is becoming increasingly popular with
professionals. The flexibility these policies afford staff is a powerful draw
for top talent.”
Remote Work Needs To Be Embraced By the Tech Industry
The tech industry has a reputation for being against remote
work.
Case in point, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer who in a storm of controversy killed the
company's popular work from home policy because she believed people are more
collaborative and innovative when they are working together.
This
mindset needs to be changed if we want to improve gender imbalance in tech and
stop women from feeling pressured in choosing between two important aspects of
their lives.
Remote work allows women to work from wherever they feel
most productive and watch their children grow up without having to hit pause on
their career progression.
And for women who are not mothers, this policy is still
attractive. It gives
them peace of mind that if they do not have to put their career goals on the
backburner and it gives them all the other benefits of remote work in the
meantime.
In Conclusion
As woman who runs a tech company, with no kids, the
possibilities of remote work have allowed me to be in places and conversations
that have primarily been dominated by men. I'm looking forward to
April 19 - 21 this 2017, as the possibility of remote working will allow me to
attend an awesome Venture Summit in Bali. It's an opportunity for networking, building community,
making valuable connections and representing women in Southeast Asia in the
world of tech in this region.
We need to change the narrative of women in tech. It is not
about the lack of educated women in the industry to take on these roles. Modern
companies need to embrace remote work as a way to level out they playing field
and invest in the women who are here now.
Keterangan :
* If Clause : Bold
*Present Tense : Red
*Present Perfect Tense : Blue
Referensi :
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrealoubier/2017/03/13/how-working-remotely-is-helping-women-close-the-gender-gap-in-tech/2/#658710803d27
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