This spring, Symantec Leaders across EMEA were asked to nominate their best and brightest female talent for an opportunity to attend the two-day Inspirefest festival, Europe's leading science and technology conference that brings together international change makers across science, technology, design and the arts, all with a common mission to increase female diversity in STEAM. For those who haven’t yet come across this acronym, STEAM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
The festival took place in Dublin, Ireland from June 30th – July 2nd and provided attendees a chance to listen to, meet and network with a variety of influential technology leaders representing a variety of sectors and functions including technology, engineering, venture capitalists, banking and finance, media, fashion, and more.
This summer Symantec employees attended Inspirefest, Europe's largest festival celebrating the role of diversity and inclusion in technology, science, the arts and mathematics, and its role in accelerating business success.
Discussions covered a variety of topics including the business value of diversity, inclusive design, investor bias in the venture capital market, the science of happiness and more:
- Diversifying a male dominated gaming industry. Brenda and John Romero, Romero Games Co-Founders shared their personal and unconventional journeys of following their passion, and succeeding in achieving monumental success and accolade in the gaming industry, despite not fitting the traditional mould.
- Jeanne M Sullivan, Founder StarVest Partners broke out her Wonder Woman costume as a champion for diversity, raging against stereotypes of getting older and fearlessly breaking the typical norms associated with different generations.
- Lisa Helen, Tyndall National Institute, a young female student who as part of her PhD is pioneering a smart needle, the ‘parking sensor’ for surgeons.
Other speakers included leading executives such as:
- Robin Chase, Co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar
- Ellyn Shook, Accenture’s Chief Leadership and HR Officer
- Judith Williams, Global Head of Diversity at Dropbox
- Kara Swisher, Co-Executive Director, Recode
- Tamara McCleary, Internationally recognized expert on relationships and conscious business, and ranked in the top 1% of global social media influencers
- ….And many current and rising STEAM stars
Across all of the discussions at the event, some common themes emerged:
- Regardless of the industry, female underrepresentation at more senior levels in particular is significant, and must be addressed as it is a contributor to future business prosperity and success.
- Lack of diversity isn't new news to those interested in the topic, however, there is a lack of knowledge otherwise, even at senior levels. The solution will only be found if everyone engages in the agenda regardless of their gender, and/or ethnicity.
- At the senior levels where decisions are being made, both conscious and unconscious biases are contributing to inequalities, so it is important all professionals become aware of the reality in order to acknowledge and address this.
- There is a lot of talk around diversity imbalance, but still a lack of concrete action from many companies, such as the introduction of diversity measurement to develop awareness and accountability for creating and influencing change.
Symantec EMEA Leaders made nominations for their team members to attend Inspirefest in Dublin, Ireland. Pictured here (left to right from back row to front): Marcia Pereira, Sinead Doherty, Linda Brennan, Carol Norton, Gillian Bell, Melissa Chouikrat-Marcinkowski, Joanne Davies Elsbury, Jayne Delahunt, Louise Hanon, Aideen Crowley.
Why Events Like Inspirefest Needs to Matter to all of Us
- Companies with more balanced boards correlates with many benefits, including higher return on sales, better stock growth; higher return on invested capital, lower risk of insolvency; and lower likelihood of financial restatement.
- Diverse and balanced teams are proven to be more successful than those that are not.
- Everyone has a responsibility to be informed about social obstacles that face our society and environment but also, everyone has an opportunity to contribute and influence the changing of social norms for the better.
What is Symantec doing?
As a result of Inspirefest, there are a number of actions that the Dublin and UK attendees are in the early exploration stage of to create awareness of the diversity agenda and to influence change at a grassroots level locally. For example, one of the leading Dublin universities announced at Inspirefest that they were renaming their buildings on campus to represent both 50% female and 50% male. This demonstrates to the students attending the university that there are recognizable role models in their field of study that look like they do and which they can aspire to. As a result, the Dublin attendees have taken on an initiative to rename all of the meeting rooms in Dublin in a similar fashion.
At Symantec investing in diversity is a priority and by 2020, we aim to increase the diversity of our entire workforce by 15 percent through acquiring and developing top talent and setting our leaders up for success. Providing Symantec's female employees with the opportunity to network and meet other professionals who are engaged with this agenda is a core part of our strategy to retain and develop our brightest diverse talent at Symantec.
In addition to Inspirefest, we have been working to ensure that employees across all regions have opportunities to network with inspiring leaders in the field, develop their own skills by attending such events and finally to bring back new knowledge and ideas to their own teams. For example, we've sent over a hundred female employees to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, the Grace Hopper Celebration India, as well as others.
So what can you do?
- Look to the left, look to the right– assess the level of diversity in your work environment.
- Look in the mirror – assess your role in raising awareness of and/or developing of diversity in your work environment.
- Then put different glasses onand look again - assess if there is unconscious bias.
- Challenge the status quo - where you see it, find a way to raise the level of awareness.
- Get involved - engage in events targeted at diversity and inclusion that come up in your environment.
- Get socializing - share this article, click on the links, and discuss with your colleagues.
#GETCURIOUS and take action, be the change you want to see.
Diversity drives innovation, innovation drives success and ensuring our workforce represents the diversity of the world we are protecting should be a priority for all of us.
Click here to see a video recap of the event featuring our Symantec delegates.
Click here for an insider view of Symantec's Dublin office and working environment!