Leveraging unconscious bias to attract more women into Tech roles

In the push for diversity, where does unconscious bias fit—and how can we turn it into an advantage? As a company looking to hire a diverse workforce, you've likely already undergone training on the different types of bias and how to combat them when making hiring decisions. The often-neglected side of this, though, is how the interviewee's biases impact their decisions on where they choose to work. For International Women's Day this year, we'd like to discuss leveraging unconscious bias to attract more women into tech roles.

Since launching The Inde Commitment, and as part of the DE&I team at Inde, we've been working to create a more inclusive workplace, with a strong focus on supporting women in tech. This has led to the launch of our newly formed 'Women in Tech' working group.  We will be looking to create an internal network to provide resources, training, and mentorship to help women grow in their careers. But this mission goes beyond Inde; we're also exploring expanding our impact through industry-wide initiatives like meetup groups with clients and other tech professionals. By fostering these connections, we aim to empower more women to enter, stay, and thrive in the tech sector.

Firstly, we must understand unconscious bias and how it can impact decision making.  According to the Equality Challenge Unit 'Unconscious Bias in Higher Education Review, 2013,' unconscious bias "refers to a bias that we are unaware of and happens outside our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgements and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences." At Inde, we have initiated conversations that discuss how that bias might affect women looking at roles within our organisation, and within the tech sector.  Fort example we have started to explore some potential scenarios below:

Scenario 1:

Imagine you've listed a role on Seek; a woman sees the ad, thinks it sounds interesting, and then goes to your website to learn more. She sees an overwhelmingly male leadership team but is also silently getting signals that:

•  Pathways for her to progress at your company likely don't exist.
• Company policies might not account for women's needs.
•  Women's opinions are not valued at the executive level.

Scenario 2:

She's made it past the male-centric website and gets to the interview stage, where she's the only woman in a room full of male interviewers. The situation can lead to unconscious signals such as:

• Feeling isolated and less confident in expressing her views.
• Concerns about fitting into a male-dominated workplace culture.
• Doubts regarding the company's commitment to diversity.

These scenarios highlight how subtle cues can influence the information used to make decisions. To counteract these biases and create a more inviting environment for women, our DE&I and Women in Tech teams have identified and are working towards implementing several strategies, such as:

•  Ensuring that women are authentically featured on our website and in other external materials, helping women to see themselves at Inde and how they can grow within it.
• Including women on our interview panels provides female interviewees with a sense of belonging and safety. It can also provide comfort when a woman provides input during candidate evaluations. As a side note, having women on the interview panel for men can help ensure that men who are hired value and respect women's contributions, too.
• Including women throughout the entire process reassures candidates of our genuine commitment to diversity and helps remove any lingering doubts about how they'll fit in.

Although we are still early on in our journey, reflecting on these strategies, it's crucial to understand that they are not just tools to achieve diversity quotas; they are part of a bigger picture on creating an inclusive culture for women, even in a male-dominated industry such as tech. Organisations should not only aim to bring women through their doors, but also ensure they have the necessary mechanisms in place to support women once they are part of the team.

Some of the ways Inde and other organisations can look to support women from within are:

• Investing in their growth by providing access to training programs.
• Mentorship programs are offered either within or external to the company.
• Allowing for flexible schedules that can cater to childcare responsibilities.
• Providing easy ways to connect with other females within the organisation.
• Creating safe spaces to provide feedback on how things are going and being open to change.

Like many other organisations, we are on this journey, and it's important to share and nurture the ways in which we are succeeding and learning. This will help ensure that our commitment to diversity is clear throughout the recruitment process, combating any unconscious bias that may be unintentionally triggered. At Inde, we're not only focused on improving opportunities for women within our own team but also on making a broader impact across the tech sector, fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment, and ensuring women have what they need to thrive in tech—no matter where they work.

On this International Women's Day, as a sector, let's examine the signals we are sending to women looking for roles and ensure we have the resources in place to support them once they're in your organisation.