Silicon UK Roundtable: International Women’s Day 2022
On International Women’s Day 2022, Silicon UK explores whether women across the tech industry feel there has been a shift in the opportunities open to them, or if barriers and discrimination still exist. Also, what the future holds as we move out of the pandemic and if the massive changes to work will impact women in the workplace.
According to new research, nearly three-quarters of women working in tech believe a gender bias still exists. The cloud talent creators, Revolent also conclude that only 19.2% of CIOs in Fortune 500 are female. Championing diversity and inclusion could retain 1.4 women in tech by 2030. Also,
73% of female tech professionals believe that gender inequality exists in the industry, and 64% of female respondents do not believe their employer pays men and women equally.
“It’s incredible to see the power that our individual actions can have as a collective,” said Nabila Salem, President at Revolent. “But, despite all the amazing strides that have and continue to be made, there is clearly a long way to go. And while organisations need to pull their socks up and take action in order to shift the dial in the right direction, it’s clear that every single person in the tech community has a part to play in helping the industry to level up.”
Dr Anjali Subburaj, Digital Commerce chief architect at Mars.
Dr Anjali Subburaj earned her doctorate in physics and became a researcher and lecturer in physics at University of Mumbai before emigrating to the UK 1999. After changing career and starting in an IT support role, she learned to code in Java and C#, became a consultant, and gained professional experience in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Anjali then moved to Salesforce where she gained expertise in cloud architecture and achieved Certified Technical Architect status in just 17 months. Dedicated to her continuous professional development, Anjali then joined Mars, where she applies her extensive knowledge and expertise as a solutions architect to lead the implementation of eCommerce, ERP, supply chain systems, and enterprise marketing systems.
Julia Linehan, Founder & Managing Director of Boutique B2B PR & Comms Agency, The Digital Voice
Julia founded The Digital Voice in 2012 and the company is an award-winning B2B PR agency specialising in delivering PR and more for Adtech and Martech disruptors and challengers. They deliver digital communications, PR, content creation, press distribution, thought leadership, event MCing, awards writing, B2B marketing, SEO management, social media management and event experiences – all with boundless energy.
Julia is also Head of PR and Impact for professional women’s network, Bloom UK. which is a voluntary group with 500 members who work to ensure women have equal opportunity in the communications industry. In addition, Julia is the co-founder of Digital Leading Ladies which is currently comprised of 250+ of the most senior and entrepreneurial women in the digital advertising industry.
