High technology and gender discrimination: Why are there no women in startups?

The high-tech industry is associated with progress.

It is therefore surprising to find under-representation for women in most startups.

A new study has succeeded in finding some companies whose situation is more egalitarian and who prove that gender diversity is not only true at the social level, but also essential at the business level

Walla!

Of money

12/01/2022

Wednesday, 12 January 2022, 14:44 Updated: Friday, 14 January 2022, 08:33

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A new study examined the representation of women in 424 Israeli startups and 70 venture capital funds with operations in Israel.

The report was prepared at the initiative of Power in Diversity, which works with venture capital funds and startups to promote diversity and inclusion in high-tech.

We went to meet the exceptions and try to understand from them what the reasons for the situation are and why in their organization prove that it is possible - and even desirable - otherwise.

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Tom Livneh, CEO and founder of Verbit (Photo: Shlomi Yosef)

Startup Verbit, which won the first index in the index, has developed an automatic platform for transcribing and subtitling video and audio files in real time and based on artificial intelligence. It employs about a thousand workers, of whom about 60% are women. In Israel, the number of workers currently stands at 157, with a percentage of women employed at 47%.

The percentage of women in managerial positions in the company stands at 44%, the percentage of women in technological positions is about a quarter of all employees. The most senior position in the company that a woman currently holds is Chief of Human Resources Tom Livneh, CEO and founder of Verbit: “We do not artificially or arbitrarily care for a high percentage of women but according to skills and abilities, purely.

I do not know any woman who would like to know that she was given a particular role just because she was a woman. All the recent research done on the subject shows that gender diversity significantly contributes to the business achievements of companies - it produces different and varied directions of thinking and action that lead to more effective solutions in a large proportion of cases. I believe women have a lot to contribute to the industry as entrepreneurs, developers and executives. They have a good systemic vision, strategies and the ability to connect points into a complete, in-depth and comprehensive picture. Burbit We do not discriminate against anyone who comes to an interview for a particular position, and only take into account the professional needs of each position.

High-tech companies work a lot with the market in the United States, which gives flexibility in working hours and as a woman and as a mother you can do any job you want because time is more flexible than ever as long as of course goals and times are met.

Therefore the fact that you are a mother for example and have to leave early to pick up children from frameworks is no longer a factor.

In general, the Corona period forfeited the cards and instilled the fact from a distance, which in my opinion allows even more flexibility and play with the working hours so that it will suit everyone. "

Rotem Barda, VP of Human Resources at Duda (Photo: Duda)

The startup company Duda was ranked second on the list of leading companies integrating women into startups in Israel.

The company, which develops a platform for building websites for digital agencies and SaaS platforms, employs 102 people worldwide, of which 52% are women.

"We are pleased to be included in this important list, and proud to be one of the leading companies in the field of integrating women in high-tech, something that is not understood in the industry in which we are located," says Rotem Barda, VP of Human Resources at Duda

. Something is right.

"Our growth as a company in the last year has allowed us to increase our workforce and make Duda more diverse, which affects our professionalism as a company, the creativity of our employees and strengthens their belonging and pride in the workplace."

Sharon Peleg, VP of Human Resources at BlueVine (Photo: Merav Ravitz, Governor)

The fintech company BlueVine was ranked fourth in the list of leading companies integrating women into startups in Israel.

The company, which works to develop an innovative banking platform for small businesses, employs over 500 people worldwide, of which 45% are women.

"We are proud to be one of the leading companies in the integration of women," says Sharon Peleg, VP of Human Resources at the company.

"A diverse society works better - and I hope we will continue to see companies that invest in the integration of women, and increase female representation day by day."

Ilanit Strauchler, VP of Human Resources EverC (Photo: PR)

The Israeli start-up EverC, which specializes in fintech and network trading risk management, has also entered the index.

Ilanit Strauchler, VP of Human Resources at the company: "We are proud to be included in such an important list and very proud of the excellent women who work at the company and contribute to its success.

Indeed, there is power in variety.

The most basic diversity that exists in humanity is gender diversity, and here at EverC we have set ourselves a goal: integration and diversity as standard.

Reality (and research) shows that women and mothers bring different and wonderful layers to the job market, which are reflected in the way we deal with challenges, manage people and processes.

"There is still a long way to go to achieve full integration, diversity and equality in high-tech, and we are happy to see many good companies around us on the list who are working alongside us to lower the barriers that prevent women from integrating and advancing in the labor market."

Lisa Zeitzik, Chief People Officer at AppsFlyer (Photo: appsflyer)

Examination of the data reveals that of all the companies surveyed for the index, the average percentage of women in them is 33%. There are differences in the data representing women depending on the size of the company - large companies show a higher percentage of women in general (36%) than small companies (30.6%). Carrying out diversification processes in small companies can be more challenging, in part because large companies have a broader operating set-up and larger resources focused on recruitment. Also, there is a need for most HR, legal, financial and support roles, which are mostly staffed by women.

"We are pleased to see our position in the rankings because we are working hard to make sure we recruit and promote in a diverse and equitable manner, but honestly the road to success is still long, for us and for the market in general." Lisa Zaitzik, Chief People Officer at AppsFlyer, who also entered the index, said, "As one of our goals is a diverse recruitment that includes a balance between women and men, we want to see more advanced women in our organization and key industry roles, and to think of helping us Young girls for success in the industry at an early age.Today

we work as part of our corporate responsibility program together with Shavut, for the advancement of girls and boys, working with Kama-Tech to recruit women from the ultra-Orthodox sector, and always looking for other ways to promote female success inside and outside society.

This includes avoiding pay gaps between men and women in the same positions, and comparing pay offers even in cases where women apply for lower salaries for one reason or another.

This is our responsibility as employers and as those who perceive themselves as a leading company in the field of corporate responsibility.

Today, women make up 43% of the company's employees and the number is rising every year.

"We take this responsibility with abysmal seriousness, and hope that the entry resin on this list will continue to rise so that we do not get a situation where the company has less than 50% women, not only in general but also in management positions."

Hila Hershkovitz VP HR at MeMed (Photo: PR)

Even in companies that were not included in the index, we found a particularly high percentage of women. Hila Hershkovitz VP HR, for example, describes the diversity of the company's workforce: "One of our core values ​​at MeMed is a constant pursuit of excellence in everything we do. We believe there is a direct link between excellence and workforce diversity in the company and that is part of our DNA. We are a multidisciplinary team that includes people from diverse content worlds such as software, algorithmics, molecular biology, medicine, surgery, marketing and sales production.

Some people call it 'Zoo' of disciplines, we call it The MeMeds. Achieve extraordinary and groundbreaking achievements.

I am proud to be part of a company that promotes women and over 50% of the team members are women who are at the most critical nodes of the organization, in all departments and positions: management, science and technology, medicine and biology, marketing, finance and more.

"The company is currently in a significant growth point, after raising more than $ 200 million, we received FDA approval and now we are in the midst of an accelerated recruitment process and we will be happy to give excellent people the opportunity to join us."

Yair Tal, CEO of BLEND (Photo: BLEND)

Yair Tal, CEO of BLEND, a company that provides localization services to global companies, said: "At Blend, we are proud of the fact that we have 55% women in the entire company and 45% in senior management, thanks to the fact that we recruited the best talent in their field. .

We did not set ourselves the goal of preferring women over men.

We just strive to bring the best people to the positions that best suit them.

"As a company that strives for excellence and service at the highest level, it is clear to us that people are our most strategic asset, and we are happy that it happened to include a lot of women."

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Tags

• Hi-Tech

• start up

• women

• gender equality

• Equal opportunities