Tech needs attitude change on gender

Vered Raviv-Schwarz | Special for USA TODAY

NEW YORK — The tech industry has created a wealth of opportunity but it has also emerged as one of the most uneven playing fields for women.

In 2014 companies finally began to acknowledge this fact. Acknowledgement is the first step, but are the next steps towards a solution clear to us?

Intel recently announced a $300 million fund to boost the diversity of the company's work force over the next three years, a commendable and forward-thinking initiative. It's certainly a step in the right direction and hopefully other tech giants will follow their lead.

But is this really a question of resources? Or does a change in attitude need to come first?

Reversing gender inequality in tech requires more than money. Our industry needs to be committed to offering the same opportunities to all qualified candidates.

The numbers don't lie: Women are underrepresented

The numbers show that tech is still very much a boys' club.

In 2013, surveys by the U.S. Department of Labor found that women make up 26% of the total tech industry and that only 20% of software developers are female.

Perhaps more troubling, women have double the turnover rate of men in the tech sector: 56% of women leave their employer mid-career.

And it's not just employees. Female entrepreneurs also struggle when it comes to finding investors. Currently, only 7% of venture capital funding goes to female-led businesses.

Recent diversity reports from within the tech industry also reveal a gloomy yet unsurprising picture of women's participation in the workplace. Facebook and Instagram reported that only 31% of their employees were female. Google, Apple and Twitter reported 30%.

Pinterest, whose user base is 80% female, reported a slightly better ratio. Women account for 40% of their total workforce. However, even those numbers are somewhat misleading. Looking more closely, we find that women hold only 19% of leadership positions at Pinterest.

Unfortunately, this is the rule in tech, rather than the exception. Even when women make it in the door, they often don't make it to the top.

Fiverr's journey towards gender equality

At Fiverr, 41% of our total employees are female, and, while this isn't ideal, it's a good start.

Perhaps more importantly, 50% of our top management at Fiverr is female. And this is a figure we take pride in.

It's a jaw-dropping ratio for anyone familiar with the tech industry and the composition of its leadership. In addition to my position as chief operating officer, Fiverr's female vice presidents are in charge of human resources, corporate marketing, product and finance.

We didn't achieve this number by offering egg-freezing benefits to women. We didn't achieve it due to positive discrimination towards women. And we didn't achieve it through an initiative to push for gender equality at the company.

We accomplished gender parity at Fiverr by providing all candidates with equal opportunities.

We evaluate applicants based on their skills and experience, as well as their potential and their passion for the role.

We also disregard factors that we feel are irrelevant such as a person's connections in the industry, family situation, and race.

We found that when hiring is determined by merit, female applicants have the same chances of being selected as their male counterparts.

Research also tells us that companies that have adopted more inclusive hiring policies are reaping tangible benefits.

In 2012, Dow Jones released a study of venture-backed companies from 1997 to 2011. Companies that went public or were acquired were classified as "successful;" in those successful companies, the percentage of female executives was 7.1%, compared with 3.1% at unsuccessful firms.

Additionally, a recent study by Thompson Reuters found that companies with mixed gender boards performed marginally better, on average, compared to a benchmark index, such as the MSCI World. These companies not only had lower tracking errors but, in many cases, also had better returns.

Is affirmative action the best way forward?

As a female executive, I've been asked if I prefer to hire women. Or, in a less politically correct form, I've been asked if I would apply positive discrimination towards women.

Some female activists call for policies that require companies to hire women with the aim of boosting gender equality. I believe affirmative action can be an appropriate measure, but only in certain sectors.

Women have the right to be heard, and to influence the political, social and economic agenda. They have the ability to positively affect global trends.

However, we don't apply affirmative action policies when recruiting employees, because we don't need to.

I don't prefer to hire women. I prefer to hire the right person. When choosing objectively, that person should be a woman, at least 50% of the time, because there are so many talented women out there. They deserve to be chosen because they are bright, creative, hard working and committed, not solely because they are women.

What kind of future do we want for women in tech?

According to the World Economic Forum's recently released Global Gender Gap Report, it's going to take 80 years to reach gender parity in the workplace. But can we afford to wait so long to close the gap?

If we don't act now, our daughters and granddaughters will face the same career challenges that women of our generation have struggled to overcome.

Tech companies should adopt a moral commitment to equality and make a conscious effort to hire the best and brightest, regardless of gender.

I understand that there is no easy fix when inequality has been rooted in workplace culture for generations. But we're innovators, and we solve difficult problems every day. We shouldn't require 80 years or hundreds of millions of dollars to address the issue of gender inequality in our own field.

What are your thoughts on gender equality in tech? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @VRavivSchwarz.

Vered Raviv-Schwarz is COO of Fiverr, and has a long track record as a technology executive, serving in high level positions at Radware, Mediamind and Kenshoo. Prior to joining the tech sector over 15 years ago, Vered practiced as a lawyer, specializing in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings.