Event summary produced by The Globe and Mail Events team. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.
Men are four times as likely as women to work in the tech sector, according to a 2019 report by Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. There is also a significant pay gap for women. Aside from gender diversity, the sector also lacks representation by Black, Filipino and Indigenous populations.
The lack of diversity is concerning on several fronts. The Brookfield report noted tech occupations are growing faster than the rest of the workforce so women and other groups may be missing out on new opportunities. Plus, the lack of diversity among teams who are building applications on newer technologies such as artificial intelligence heightens the risk of inherent bias and discrimination. There’s also a growing recognition that diverse companies are more innovative and resilient.
The Globe and Mail hosted a virtual panel discussion on December 9 to bring tech leaders together to discuss strategies to attract and retain new and diverse employees.
Missed the live event or would like to view it again? Scroll down to the video player, below.
Rita Trichur, senior business writer and columnist with The Globe and Mail moderated the panel, hosting the following speakers:
- Shawn Malhotra, head of engineering with Thomson Reuters
- Vicki Iverson, co-founder and CTO with Iversoft Solutions Inc.
- Kishawna Peck, executive director with Toronto Womxn in Data Science
- Foteini Agrafioti, chief science officer with RBC and head of Borealis AI
Watch the full discussion (60 minutes) below:
The Globe and Mail presented the event with sponsor support from Thomson Reuters.