RALEIGH – The North Carolina Technology Association is hosting its second “Summit for Women in Tech” today, wrapping up a program covering two days worth of talks and panel discussions. What’s the agenda? What are the goals?

In a Q&A with NC TECH, execs share their thoughts:

This is the second annual event.  What did NC TECH learn from the first one – and how will this year’s event be different? 

The 2020 Summit for Women in Tech was very successful and received tremendous feedback from our attendees. Based on that feedback and the input from our Host Committee, we believe we have built an even stronger agenda that is tackling timely and relevant issues, including an all male panel discussion on Allyship. This year’s event will follow a similar format, but includes an opening and closing keynote on both days as well as a couple of additional Motivational Moments which are similar to a TEDx talk.

What’s the theme?

The theme is Ignite Change.  Given its continued relevance, we decided to use the same one we used last year.  The Host Committee developed this theme for the 2020 event and felt it still was a good fit for this year’s Summit.

One of the panels mentions “the burden to women” in returning to the workplace – tell us more about this panel, about the topics discussed, and about the available data on this topic? 

With the spread of the pandemic, many businesses pivoted to a work from home model to ensure the health and safety of their employees.  However, during this time, women were often forced to wear many more hats.  Nearly 1.8 million women have dropped out of the labor force amid the pandemic and are now grappling with whether and how to return to work in a vastly different landscape.  During this discussion, the panelists will discuss how women leaving the workforce is impacting their businesses, what return to the workplace might look like and how we can encourage this group to continue to be part of the tech workforce.  One of the sources used to develop the conversation was the McKinsey Women in the Workplace study.

How has COVID changed the workplace ?

COVID has allowed for a more distributed workforce, which had led to a re-imagined workplace where individuals and teams may be in-office on a less regular basis.  Technology has had to adapt to the new nearly universal needs of workers and organizations, ranging from collaboration tools to technology solutions within the workplace to enhance safety.

What are some examples of companies in NC that are seen as having implemented best practices for ensuring equitable inclusion and advancement for women in technology, and in leadership roles of technology companies? 

Most companies that we work with are in the process of changing their culture, processes and strategies to build a more diverse tech workforce.  This is certainly a journey that is ever-evolving.  Companies such as Accenture, BCBSNC and IBM have made diverse hiring a priority and would be great to reach out to for further information.

How is NC TECH advising member companies on inclusion, mentoring – and why? 

While NC TECH doesn’t serve in a direct advisory capacity, we do routinely feature best practices and as part of that have launched two new signature events:  a Diversity + Inclusion in Tech Summit, and the Summit for Women in Tech.  We supplement these anchor offerings with programming throughout the year, such as a recent virtual event called a “Privilege Walk” presented by our member and partner “The Diversity Movement.”

What is gained from greater gender diversity in technology companies – and specifically in / across departments and divisions of technology companies?  

Research from multiple organizations including McKinsey, Harvard and even our own NC State (Warrs/Mayer/Zhau) indicate that companies perform better when they have a diverse workforce.  This permeates every aspect of the company to include product design, recruiting and retaining top talent as well as sales and marketing.  Additionally, the McKinsey study found that company profits and share performance can be close to 50% higher when women are well represented in top leadership positions and these senior level women have a significant and meaningful impact on company culture.