One of our BTA Fellows, Ana Lobo, recently attended the Move the Dial event at CIBC. She learned a ton at the event, and has shared her findings with us below.
The latest edition of Women in the Workplace, an annual study conducted by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org has received significant attention over the past few weeks for confirming that the biggest obstacle women face in reaching senior leadership is not hitting the “glass ceiling”, but a encountering a “broken rung”. This means that women in corporate America are less likely to be promoted from entry level to manager. Further, it finds that men have a more optimistic perception on the “state of the pipeline” than women.
This difference in perceptions is one the many issues around eliminating gender disparity that #movethedial is tackling. They focus particularly in the North American tech industry, by raising awareness and facilitating meaningful networking opportunities. At their most recent #movethedialstories event, hosted by CIBC they focused on the role of men as Champions of Change.
We had the opportunity to hear from David Pathe, Co-Chair of the 30 Percent Club and President of Sherritt International Corporation and Jay Rosenzweig, from Rosenzweig and Company. They shared their stories on the improvements being made in traditionally male-dominated industries such as mining and the state of gender disparity.
Steve Irvine, CEO of Integrate.ai shared a personal and powerful story about attending a networking event with mostly female representation. He described how he felt uncomfortable, like he had to make an extra effort to fit in and concluded that women and other minorities feel like this all the time. He went on to say that being underrepresented and experiencing discomfort constantly impedes women and other minorities from bringing their whole selves to work and performing at their best.
At a fireside chat with the team from Wattpad, we heard from Jeanne Lam, General Manager and Seema Lakhani, Chief Product Officer, about the experience of working in a tech startup with over 50% female representation. They shared that at Wattpad, the commitment to eliminate gender disparity is continuous and must be actively addressed even when it’s appeared to be “fixed”.
These events geared towards sharing stories emphasize the importance of bringing everyone to the table. Particularly in the fight towards advancing women in tech, men must be part of the conversation. Obstacles such as the “broken rung” and the misalignment that men and women have around the magnitude of the problem are more easily addressed collaboratively.