Progress toward greater gender diversity in the technology world appears to have stalled.

AnitaB.org has reported that the percentage of women in technical roles stands at 27.6%, more than a percentage point lower than the number reported in 2020. Why progress remains slow is perplexing to some since McKinsey & Co. recently published data showing that companies with gender diverse executive teams were 25% more likely to achieve better profitability than less-diverse firms.

There are a number of factors at play here, including louder voices, according to one tech company executive.

“When there’s a really important project at work and you want to identify a leader to drive the project, the obvious choice would be the loudest person in the room,” said Aparna Subramanian (pictured, second from right), director of production engineering at Shopify Inc. “More often than not it’s not the woman who is the largest voice in the room. It’s about being objective about things.”

Subramanian spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Savannah Peterson (second from left) at the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. She was joined by Kaslin Fields (right), developer advocate at Google LLC, and Ixchel Ruiz (left), senior software developer and developer advocate at JFrog Ltd. They discussed challenges and solutions for gender diversity in the tech world. (* Disclosure below.)

Mentoring and representation

There are a number of industry-based initiatives that could change the representation picture for women. One of these is Ada Developers Academy, a nonprofit, cost-free coding school for women and gender expansive adults. Fields has been a volunteer with Ada and has been impressed by the drive shown by participants.

“I volunteer for them as an industry mentor,” Fields said. “It’s someone who is going to help them understand what this industry is and what they’re getting into. I’ve been a mentor for six or seven mentees now and they are so driven. They do such amazing things. I’ve even seen them present at KubeCon.”

Research data from AnitaB shows that representation of women technologists is lower across the career ladder than in 2020. Findings such as these highlight the gender diversity challenges ahead.

“People would come up to me and say: ‘You have that spot because you are a woman,’” Ruiz said. “We’re not loud, but we are damn good. If you see a woman in technology, listen to her.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe event:

(* Disclosure: This is an unsponsored editorial segment. However, theCUBE is a paid media partner for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. Neither Red Hat Inc. nor other sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE