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4 Ways Leaders Can Better Support Women in Tech

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4 Ways Leaders Can Better Support Women in Tech


The operational, cultural, and fiscal benefits of having women on any team have been well-documented. So, why is the tech world still lacking women along so many rungs of the corporate ladder? The answer: Most tech leaders simply aren’t doing as much as they should to make attracting, hiring, and retaining women employees (and leaders) a top priority.

The lack of a welcoming culture in tech industries has been a problem for women for a long time. DataProt investigated the phenomenon and noted that women comprise only 19% of STEM graduates and hold just 24% of computer-related roles. This doesn’t bode well for tech industries in the long run, especially given all the advantages that come with a gender-diverse workforce.

The Benefits of Women in Tech

McKinsey & Company research has shown that women bring unique perspectives to their occupational lives — and that those perspectives are good for business. Women are often better able to build relational alliances and show great empathy with colleagues and direct reports, for example. When in leadership positions, women statistically provide more emotional support and are more likely to take action to prevent burnout in their teams than their male counterparts.

What most people miss is that women aren’t just good at the “softer” side of business. They also excel in technical roles at work, bringing unique perspectives and abilities to everything from coding to web development.

Because women are still vastly underrepresented in the tech world, their uniqueness pays off — particularly when they move up the ladder. One study found that Fortune 500 companies with at least three women in leadership roles had a 66% higher ROI over those that didn’t.

How to Open the Door for More Women in Tech

If it hasn’t been proven by now, you can read it here: The presence of women in the boardroom, the C-suite, and the supervisor line is good for tech and good for business. Leaders just need to open the door to women more deliberately, starting with these critical steps:

1. Remove Gender Bias From the Pay Scale.

It’s embarrassing that we still have to talk about gender pay equity in the 2020s, but unfortunately, it’s still a problem. In the United States, women’s and men’s earnings aren’t even, and it’s worse for women with marginalized identities.

Women still only make 82 cents for every dollar that men make, per a report by Payscale. Ask yourself: Would you rather make $60,000 a year or $49,200? No one would choose the latter. Why expect that of women?

Companies that are serious about paying equally across the board can start by adopting more transparent pay structures throughout their organizations.

Transparency assures potential and current employees that they’re being judged and paid fairly based on their experience and education, as well as the responsibilities of the job.

When candidates accept employment offers at tech firms that pay equally and transparently, they feel more engaged with their work and more invested in staying and growing with the company.

That’s important because an unfortunate number of women leave tech because they don’t find the culture or pay rewarding, literally or figuratively. To keep women in tech moving upward, organizations have to make it clear that they’re being paid competitively and fairly.

2. Promote Equally Across All Internal Candidates.

Inside every company exists a pool of employees who want to advance in their careers; the tech industry is no different. Women in tech roles want to grow professionally to expand their skills, make more money, and become the change leaders that the industry needs.

Your employees, no matter their gender identity, can’t succeed if they’re not provided with the opportunities to apply and be considered for promotions when positions open.

One way to show women in tech workspaces that they can advance is by helping them create clear road maps to move up within the company and grow their careers.

These road maps serve as motivational visualizations of what’s possible and provide necessary steps and markers to achieving their career goals. Women who can clearly see growth opportunities within their organizations will stay to achieve and do more for the company.

Because this means less employee turnover and more retention of legacy knowledge, everyone wins.

3. Encourage a Safe and Supportive Culture.

By and large, tech has been a male-dominated world where women have commonly reported feeling like unwanted outsiders. It’s time for so-called “brogrammer” attitudes to be laid to rest once and for all.

Women can’t feel like they belong — which is one of the primary reasons people leave jobs in general — if they can’t be fully themselves. Women shouldn’t have to deal with sexism, exclusivity, or microaggressions in the workplace.

Overt sexism is often easier to stamp out because it pops up more obviously within workers’ language, jokes, and attitudes. Microaggressions, such as experience or authority being questioned, looks or perspectives being judged, or the classic “being mistaken for an entry-level employee,” are harder to pinpoint.

Nevertheless, tech companies that want more women to invest in them long term should work to stamp out sexism and microaggressions across the organization — especially companies with any history of losing talented women to culture concerns.

This might require training and a true culture shift, but these tasks are important signals to your employees that your workplace is safe.

4. Get Serious About Work-Life Balance.

During the pandemic, domestic gender role expectations went under a microscope, and for a good reason. Even during the shift to remote work in 2020, many women were still forced to leave the workplace to care for children and loved ones. The result? Almost two million women are still absent from the U.S. labor force.

At the same time, the tech industry is struggling to fill open roles. Tech companies owe it to their workers to make work-life balance possible and accessible. It’s not just women who put a high price on this priority in employers: More people of all genders value this factor than ever before.

Work-Life balance requires a significant change in the “hustle-at-all-costs” culture that permeates the tech field and strains workers who have outside lives — which is everyone.

Women won’t sign onto or stay in a role if they don’t feel that their health and satisfaction are taken seriously. As you become known as an employer who cares and respects people as human beings, employees of all kinds — women especially — will be excited to stay and invest themselves in your organization.

Women are ready to help disrupt the world with new and emerging technology. But they need to know they’ll be met with the culture and opportunities they deserve when they walk through the door. It’s up to you and other leaders in the industry to make it happen.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by thisisengineering; Pexels; Thank you!

Crystal Crump

Managing Director of Company Relations at LaunchCode

Crystal Crump is the Managing Director of Company Relations at LaunchCode. She helps individuals gain access to tech careers by partnering with business leaders to achieve recruitment and workforce development initiatives.

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Fintech Kennek raises $12.5M seed round to digitize lending

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Google eyed for $2 billion Anthropic deal after major Amazon play


London-based fintech startup Kennek has raised $12.5 million in seed funding to expand its lending operating system.

According to an Oct. 10 tech.eu report, the round was led by HV Capital and included participation from Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures, and Syndicate One. Kennek offers software-as-a-service tools to help non-bank lenders streamline their operations using open banking, open finance, and payments.

The platform aims to automate time-consuming manual tasks and consolidate fragmented data to simplify lending. Xavier De Pauw, founder of Kennek said:

“Until kennek, lenders had to devote countless hours to menial operational tasks and deal with jumbled and hard-coded data – which makes every other part of lending a headache. As former lenders ourselves, we lived and breathed these frustrations, and built kennek to make them a thing of the past.”

The company said the latest funding round was oversubscribed and closed quickly despite the challenging fundraising environment. The new capital will be used to expand Kennek’s engineering team and strengthen its market position in the UK while exploring expansion into other European markets. Barbod Namini, Partner at lead investor HV Capital, commented on the investment:

“Kennek has developed an ambitious and genuinely unique proposition which we think can be the foundation of the entire alternative lending space. […] It is a complicated market and a solution that brings together all information and stakeholders onto a single platform is highly compelling for both lenders & the ecosystem as a whole.”

The fintech lending space has grown rapidly in recent years, but many lenders still rely on legacy systems and manual processes that limit efficiency and scalability. Kennek aims to leverage open banking and data integration to provide lenders with a more streamlined, automated lending experience.

The seed funding will allow the London-based startup to continue developing its platform and expanding its team to meet demand from non-bank lenders looking to digitize operations. Kennek’s focus on the UK and Europe also comes amid rising adoption of open banking and open finance in the regions.

Featured Image Credit: Photo from Kennek.io; Thank you!

Radek Zielinski

Radek Zielinski is an experienced technology and financial journalist with a passion for cybersecurity and futurology.

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Fortune 500’s race for generative AI breakthroughs

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Deanna Ritchie


As excitement around generative AI grows, Fortune 500 companies, including Goldman Sachs, are carefully examining the possible applications of this technology. A recent survey of U.S. executives indicated that 60% believe generative AI will substantially impact their businesses in the long term. However, they anticipate a one to two-year timeframe before implementing their initial solutions. This optimism stems from the potential of generative AI to revolutionize various aspects of businesses, from enhancing customer experiences to optimizing internal processes. In the short term, companies will likely focus on pilot projects and experimentation, gradually integrating generative AI into their operations as they witness its positive influence on efficiency and profitability.

Goldman Sachs’ Cautious Approach to Implementing Generative AI

In a recent interview, Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti revealed that the firm has not yet implemented any generative AI use cases. Instead, the company focuses on experimentation and setting high standards before adopting the technology. Argenti recognized the desire for outcomes in areas like developer and operational efficiency but emphasized ensuring precision before putting experimental AI use cases into production.

According to Argenti, striking the right balance between driving innovation and maintaining accuracy is crucial for successfully integrating generative AI within the firm. Goldman Sachs intends to continue exploring this emerging technology’s potential benefits and applications while diligently assessing risks to ensure it meets the company’s stringent quality standards.

One possible application for Goldman Sachs is in software development, where the company has observed a 20-40% productivity increase during its trials. The goal is for 1,000 developers to utilize generative AI tools by year’s end. However, Argenti emphasized that a well-defined expectation of return on investment is necessary before fully integrating generative AI into production.

To achieve this, the company plans to implement a systematic and strategic approach to adopting generative AI, ensuring that it complements and enhances the skills of its developers. Additionally, Goldman Sachs intends to evaluate the long-term impact of generative AI on their software development processes and the overall quality of the applications being developed.

Goldman Sachs’ approach to AI implementation goes beyond merely executing models. The firm has created a platform encompassing technical, legal, and compliance assessments to filter out improper content and keep track of all interactions. This comprehensive system ensures seamless integration of artificial intelligence in operations while adhering to regulatory standards and maintaining client confidentiality. Moreover, the platform continuously improves and adapts its algorithms, allowing Goldman Sachs to stay at the forefront of technology and offer its clients the most efficient and secure services.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Google DeepMind; Pexels; Thank you!

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is the Managing Editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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Politics

UK seizes web3 opportunity simplifying crypto regulations

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Deanna Ritchie


As Web3 companies increasingly consider leaving the United States due to regulatory ambiguity, the United Kingdom must simplify its cryptocurrency regulations to attract these businesses. The conservative think tank Policy Exchange recently released a report detailing ten suggestions for improving Web3 regulation in the country. Among the recommendations are reducing liability for token holders in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and encouraging the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to adopt alternative Know Your Customer (KYC) methodologies, such as digital identities and blockchain analytics tools. These suggestions aim to position the UK as a hub for Web3 innovation and attract blockchain-based businesses looking for a more conducive regulatory environment.

Streamlining Cryptocurrency Regulations for Innovation

To make it easier for emerging Web3 companies to navigate existing legal frameworks and contribute to the UK’s digital economy growth, the government must streamline cryptocurrency regulations and adopt forward-looking approaches. By making the regulatory landscape clear and straightforward, the UK can create an environment that fosters innovation, growth, and competitiveness in the global fintech industry.

The Policy Exchange report also recommends not weakening self-hosted wallets or treating proof-of-stake (PoS) services as financial services. This approach aims to protect the fundamental principles of decentralization and user autonomy while strongly emphasizing security and regulatory compliance. By doing so, the UK can nurture an environment that encourages innovation and the continued growth of blockchain technology.

Despite recent strict measures by UK authorities, such as His Majesty’s Treasury and the FCA, toward the digital assets sector, the proposed changes in the Policy Exchange report strive to make the UK a more attractive location for Web3 enterprises. By adopting these suggestions, the UK can demonstrate its commitment to fostering innovation in the rapidly evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency industries while ensuring a robust and transparent regulatory environment.

The ongoing uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency regulations in various countries has prompted Web3 companies to explore alternative jurisdictions with more precise legal frameworks. As the United States grapples with regulatory ambiguity, the United Kingdom can position itself as a hub for Web3 innovation by simplifying and streamlining its cryptocurrency regulations.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jonathan Borba; Pexels; Thank you!

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is the Managing Editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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