The Changing World of Work and Stepping Up for Gender Equity

While the moral arguments for gender equity are clear, the broader economic benefits are becoming much clearer – for individuals, families, communities, companies and our world as a whole. For example, closing the gender gap could generate $12 trillion for global GDP[1] according to McKinsey Global Institute and a recent report by the United Nations and BNY Mellon projects the “return on equality” for achieving gender equity across five key sectors such as water and energy has the potential to increase annual spending by over $300 billion by 2025[2]. 

In the technology and cyber security industries, the need for more representation of women hits home hard. While women represent half of our global population, studies show that only 10%[3] of the global cyber security workforce are female, while projections estimate there will be an excess of 1.5 million cyber security jobs in 2020.

Last week, in honor of International Women’s Day, the United Nations shone a light on the changing role of women in the world of work, and how our rapidly developing world is creating opportunities for females while exacerbating already existing divides. Today, we offer a look at what Symantec is doing to make our mark on gender equity –for our company, cyber security, and the broader technology industry. From educating and engaging women of all ages, to building the skills women need to move into cyber security careers, to promoting equity within our business walls, diversity is a cause we care deeply about and one in which we continue to deeply invest. 

The Changing World of Work at Symantec

We've made investing in diversity a priority not only because it’s the right thing to do but also because it translates to a higher performing industry, company and bottom line.

Our strategy to address diversity across all backgrounds, including the representation and empowerment of women, is based on a four-pronged approach:

• Attracting, retaining, and developing diverse employees
• Ensuring an inclusive experience for our entire value chain
• Investing in STEM education to grow a diverse talent pipeline, and
• Promoting equality on a national and global level

Growing the pipeline of talented female technology professionals: We partner with nonprofits to channel the passion of girls and close the STEM gender gap from a young age. For example, through our partnership and grant with Project CS Girls, a nonprofit working to close the technology gender gap, we support the organization's annual nationwide computer science competition, the largest computer science competition for middle school students in the United States. In partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW), we support the organization's national Tech Trek Program, week-long camps that expose rising American 8th grade girls (13-14 years of age) to cyber security and other STEM careers while providing them with valuable STEM training and skills.

“Tech Trek was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it has opened up my eyes to a whole new idea of what my future career can be. It’s also given me broader confidence and taught me that as long as you make yourself familiar with something, learn more about it, anything is possible. I will always remember my Tech Trek experience and it really has – and will continue to - impact my life.” – Grace Beal, Tech Trek participant

Additionally, our signature Symantec Cyber Career Connection Program (SC3) program is building the cyber security workforce of tomorrow. At the end of FY16 24% of participating students were female.

Attract and retain diverse talent and create a culture where females can thrive: To make the world a safer place, we need a team with the expertise and experience to protect against threats both known and unknown. This starts with a diverse workforce. By 2020, our goal is to increase the percentage of women globally and underrepresented minorities in the United States by 15% respectively, using FY14 as a baseline year. 

We promote internal awareness of female talent through campaigns such as Women on Walls where offices from Mountain View to Dublin are currently showcasing portraits of inspiring female Symantec professionals.

Our Symantec Women’s Action Network (SWAN) is one of five employee resource groups (ERGs) and plays an integral role for women at Symantec by building cultural awareness and providing opportunities to serve as cultural community ambassadors, mentor females in cyber security, volunteer and advocate on issues. For example, this year, in honor of International Women’s Day, our Cape Town SWAN chapter held a self-defense session for women and our Pune SWAN chapter celebrated their first anniversary with a “build your own legacy” event attended by 150 employees and featuring best-selling author Sudha Menon discussing stories of female societal influencers.

Additionally, we continually offer opportunities to develop and accelerate female talent. For the 8th consecutive year, Symantec provided leading female employees the opportunity to attend the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, joining 18,000 primarily female attendees for the largest gathering of women in computing today.

“I would say I found the conference to be extraordinary on many fronts – the sea of incredibly talented women in tech, the rich content which provided valuable insights and mechanisms for these participants to take back with them, and the opportunity to network and experience the collective power, thought leadership and energy at a conference with 18,000 participants. I also personally loved getting to know more of our Symantec talent as we worked together to greet the multitudes of conference attendees at our booth. Amazed at our strength and ingenuity.” – Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Promoting equality nationally and globally: By collaborating with key research, nongovernmental organizations, public policy and education partners, we are supporting conversations and creating a voice internally and externally for women in tech. We are proud to be a founding signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP), through which we apply and share best practices contributing to one of the world’s leading global dialogues on gender equality.

Additionally, our #iamtech Medium publication provides a platform for minorities and women in technology to share their stories. This year, Aleatha Parker-Wood, Principal Research Engineer at Symantec spoke about how she is breaking down biases in engineering and the need to encourage female engineers and inventors. Of her daughter, she said:

“I don’t have any idea what future career she’ll choose, but I do know this: If she goes into tech, as a woman she won’t be alone anymore.” - Aleatha Parker-Wood, Principal Research Engineer, Symantec

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index estimates that 68% of the global gender gap has been closed; however, it will take another 170 years to reach full gender equity[4] at our current pace. Significant progress is being made every day and we are proud to be a part of this. But, we recognize there is still far to go and will continue to work through our business and global network to advocate for a culture of equality.