The key to inclusive software

Top leadership's recognition of a lack of inclusion is a key factor in reaching diverse audiences. Companies that pay attention to diversity and inclusion in their tech teams will benefit from innovation, revenue and brand equity opportunities, shows the study "The Key to Designing Inclusive Tech: Creating Diverse and Inclusive Tech Teams."

"Change must come from technology team leaders: They are challenged to bridge the gap between their perceptions and those of their female and ethnic minority team members. For this to happen, leaders must also confront uncomfortable truths, which is a basic prerequisite for developing inclusive technology" explains Christina Schehl, head of Capgemini Invent's strategy, design and innovation unit frog in Germany. "The pressure on global companies to make inclusion a reality is growing. Consumers now expect organizations to develop inclusive products, services and technologies. Asking inclusion questions - if at all - only at the end of the development cycles is too late and thus not very effective. Companies can only reduce the risk of discriminatory technologies by involving as diverse a range of user groups as possible as early as the design and development phase.."

Gap between managers and employees

As the pandemic unfolded, companies came under great pressure to recruit tech talent that met their needs from an ever-shrinking pool of candidates. In the process, their attention to good diversity and inclusion practices has waned. As a result, a gap has emerged between how executives perceive their IT and tech teams to be characterized by inclusion and the reality of how female employees and team members from ethnic minorities experience them.

According to the study, 85 percent of executives believe their companies provide fair opportunities for career development and promotion to all employees - but only 19 percent of women and ethnic minority employees agree. This discrepancy contributes to an ongoing deficit in equality and inclusion across industries that deliver technology to end users.

Executives believe progress is being made, but grassroots tech employees remain critical of the reality. The perception gap is wide: 75 percent of executives believe women and ethnic minority team members experience a sense of belonging at their companies, but only 24 percent of these employees in tech positions confirm this.

53 percent of women and ethnic minority individuals feel comfortable sharing personal experiences with peers and other employees, whereas only 9 percent of them have the same level of trust with their managers. Only 16 percent of ethnic minority women and employees feel adequately represented on tech teams. In addition, only one in five people on IT or tech teams is female and one in six is from an ethnic minority.

In organizations with an advanced inclusive culture, the discrepancy in the assessment of inclusion processes and measures between managers on the one hand and women and employees from ethnic minorities in tech functions on the other is smaller. This is also true with regard to whether women and ethnic minority employees have the same access to human resources, employee groups and HR as other employees from non-diverse backgrounds.

Inclusive teams lead to inclusive products

The study authors highlight that organizations with diverse and inclusive tech teams are four times more likely to produce inclusive products. Companies therefore need to develop an effective inclusion strategy that goes beyond education and awareness at the highest levels of leadership, the study says. They are challenged to use various processes, guidelines and value systems to promote inclusion. These include policies on diversity and against harassment, as well as a clear inclusion mandate for technology teams.

Leaders, especially in this area, must ensure that women and ethnic minority employees have equal opportunities for career development, advancement and influence on product development.