March(ing) for Women!

As such, we've asked six of our very own Techspacers for their views and experience on gender inequality, on a professional level but also outside of their working environment. Gender inequality is still pervasive in our society and we strongly believe that it is more important than ever to #BREAKTHEBIAS, celebrate women's achievements, show appreciation but also highlight how far we still need to go.  

Here’s what they have to say ⬇️

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‍Julia - Community Associate

"Most of my roles were office assistant positions so my gender has never really been in the way of getting a job. BUT I think we, as women, are generally underrated and very often this perception confuses the way we think of ourselves. There was a management position once and I didn't think of applying because I didn't tick all the boxes. Instead of just going for it and being confident that I would eventually learn the missing pieces along the way (like a lot of men do), I didn't even try."

‍Caitlan - Community Associate‍

"I started my job at Techspace very recently. My previous jobs were in hospitality, retail and tourism where I’ve been undervalued, belittled and on rare occasions I have experienced harassment. I hope my experience in the tech industry is different."

Eve - Area Manager

"In the workplace, homogeneous environments can easily be very uncomfortable. No matter how aware the people around you may be, there are many subconscious biases at play that influence how you are perceived. In most of the industries casual sexism is definitely still alive and thriving and presents itself in a variety of forms like being expected to bear demeaning comments about other women/ marginalised groups, being paid less or overlooked for promotions, etc." Talking about income: in 2020, the U.N. reported a global gender pay gap of 16%, meaning that female employees earn 84% of the amount their male counterparts earn. The global gender wage gap is especially divisive for women of colour, immigrant women and mothers. At the pace we’re currently moving, the gender pay gap will take more than 100 years to close. One app that is trail blazing change and answers to this issue is PepTalkHer . It is an app that supports individuals getting the pay they deserve while we work on eliminating this structural issue. Another recent business that is helping to reduce the gender pay gap is Payspective. They give you all the insights you could possibly need about your pay and progression to allow you to make informed career decisions. "

Liva - Community Lead

‍"I am engrained in an industry blend of hospitality and commercial real estate and the latter is particularly white male dominant, with women occupying less than 37% of the industry. If we take the figures, the situation is similar and actually worse in the tech industry: according to a Forbes 2021 spring article, ‘the gender gap for women in technology as a whole is actually worse today than it was in 1984.  Only 21% of women in the study said they believed the technology industry was a place they could thrive; sadly, that number falls precipitously to 8% for women of coloUr. But all is not lost and a lot of initiatives are being undertaken to support women in tech and in other sectors. One app that I find worth mentioning is the female founded start-up Your Juno .The Juno team are building a community and learning platform to support women and Non-binary people to invest and feel empowered by their finances. We’ve hosted two of their events at Techspace back in 2021 in our event space, The Loading Bay, and it was extremely insightful. Juno have also just raised £1.6 million earlier this month! If you haven’t already, go and check them out! "

Yatri - Sales Lead‍

"On a personal level, I have applied to multiple SaaS companies for a Sales role in the past and have not been overly successful. I feel that women are often overlooked by hiring managers, as if they will never be able to understand the product. I have often not been given a chance despite having the skills. In general, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that only 25% of the GAFAM employees are women. Pay gap for women in Tech is another huge topic of discussion and something that definitely needs to be improved and a lot of Fin-tech related apps are enabling change in that way. To name a few: Scalable, Curve and DKB are helping so many women track their finances and take small steps towards personal investments! These apps make it so easy to have an overview of the markets, your finances and also give you insights into the daily market changes and updates."

Michaela - Community Associate‍

"At my previous company, I noticed a big difference in how men in leadership positions treated me, compared to women in the same position. And on a more personal level If you read "Invisible Women" by Caroline Criado Perez you'll be sure to find a few facts and figures that are hard to wrap your head around. But I think sometimes learning these facts, as women and femmes we aren't surprised because it's our lived reality. From birth, for survival, we all become experts in misogyny and the patriarchy. I think it's important for people to know, that feminism isn't just about improving the lives of women. If you are intersectional in your approach to feminism, it's about uplifting everyone, regardless of gender, race, class, it's about collective liberation, of all marginalised people. The process of which uplifts us all. Men are also negatively impacted by the patriarchy and it's in their best interests to enable a better future for women, femmes, trans, and Non-binary people."

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As you can see, we still have a long way to go to reach an equilibrium. We need to work together as an industry but also society to make meaningful changes. At Techspace we recognise we’re not perfect, but we're striving to improve and taking steps to effect change. And we encourage you to do the same! 

Eve: “At Techspace we are a team of very different characters, with much understanding and goodwill towards each other. This creates a peaceful and safe environment to admit wrongs and ignorance and to celebrate wins and growth. I feel comfortable knowing that - while we might not be "there" yet - we are steadily working on increasing the diversity and inclusion in our company, as well as working on our sustainability. 

Techspace takes our personal interests into consideration to see how these can be supported. We want to see everybody win!” 

 Yatri: “Despite the difficulties, I also think opportunities for growth for women in Tech are endless, so I'm positive about the future. It's also interesting to observe the change in the world today and I am glad to be a small part of it”.