The power of example is yours
This month, the engineering and consulting company ÅF is hiring only women. They are doing so as part of their goal to have at least one third of ÅF's employees be women, including at management level, by 2020. And because, as they put it in an article in Ny Teknik, they believe in the power of good examples. We at IT&Telekomföretagen do too. And we know that there are more good examples, even if the image of the industry - to which we ourselves partly contribute - often shows something else.
The proportion of women is low, women in management even lower, there is a lack of role models, the corporate culture is gimmicky, IT training advertisements are not aimed at girls and so on and so on and so on...
I'm not going to say that these things are not, in whole or in part, true. But at the same time, I know that there are, even relatively abundant, both role models and good examples. Companies that work systematically and purposefully to increase the proportion of female managers. People who very actively make female leaders and employees visible. But, as they say, what is not visible does not exist. So we - and by that I mean not least those of us who represent the industry - must get better at showing and telling about those who do good things.
A fairly well-tested way to highlight role models is to give them an award. Ours is called the Womentor Award and is given annually to someone or some people who have made an active contribution to increasing the number of women leaders in our industry.
Previous winners have included Microsoft and Tele2. This year we could make it easy for us and give it directly to ÅF, which so conveniently put its "Ladies Month" just at the same time as we receive nominations. But wouldn't that be a shame? Surely there are more?
Help us find and celebrate them by nominating whoever you want - either a person or an organization or both - for the 2015 Womentor Award!
By doing so, you are helping to highlight and recognize people and companies that really make a difference and act as role models. In addition to giving your nominee a confirmation that they are on the right track, which is quite nice in itself, you help contribute to a more equal industry: good examples inspire and motivate more people to work on becoming better!
Now you have the power - use it! Make it hard for us to choose!