"Gender equality is a prerequisite for successful tech companies"

The tech industry is an industry of the future, and in many ways it is already an attractive industry. At the same time, the industry needs to welcome more people. Not least, the industry needs to become even better at attracting and retaining people from different backgrounds and women. To succeed in this, various initiatives are needed that raise the profile of the issues and promote greater inclusion and gender equality. TechSverige is conducting active and long-term work to improve gender equality with the aim of achieving gender balance in the industry by 2030 at the latest.

Ana Andric is an expert on industrial policy with a particular focus on skills, inclusion and attractiveness of the sector:

How do you as a trade association work on these issues?
We work daily, together with our member companies, to convey the image of the tech industry and tech jobs as attractive to both women and men, young and old, and people with different backgrounds and experience. We want to show the variety of jobs and tasks that exist and highlight the good working conditions and market-based wages that the industry offers. TechSverige is behind the campaign, among other things Add techwhich aims to highlight different paths to tech jobs to make it easier for individuals to take the step into the tech industry.

We are also working with other actors to accelerate the pace of gender equality work. One such collaboration is with Unionen and Women in Tech (GBG), through the project "Re-write the code"project, which aims to create attractive workplaces for women and non-binary people in the tech industry. We also collaborate with the Key Performance Indicators Institute to create better opportunities to follow up on gender equality work in the tech industry by creating a unique database via the Key Performance Indicators Institute's Attractive Employer Index and Gender Equality Index Jämix.

TechSweden's gender equality checklist was launched last year. Can you give some background to it?
The lack of women in technology-related and leadership roles is a major and common problem for tech companies. They are not getting access to the possible range of skills.

A series of reports, seminars and workshops have highlighted the issue, calling for further action alongside what is already being done, particularly on work environment and corporate culture issues. The checklist is based on how tech company managers can act in critical gender equality situations.

What is its purpose and who is it for?
As an industry and employer, we have a great shared responsibility to increase attractiveness and gender equality in tech. Achieving gender-equal workplaces and cultures requires systematic and long-term work throughout the organization. The gender equality perspective must be made visible and included in all decision-making, at all levels and in all processes. This often means a journey of change in companies and organizations, but it is possible to achieve with increased knowledge and awareness among management and employees. The checklist is a tool to support this work. It is aimed at those responsible for different roles and functions in tech companies. It will serve as a tool for how they should act to increase, develop and retain women in the business.

Read the gender equality checklist here: https://techsverige.se/checklista/