Gender equity program involves internal and external practices and is focused on increasing the participation of women in the technology sector and in leadership positions
SONDA, a leading company in Digital Transformation in the region, created the “SONDA Mulheres” program, which involves internal and external initiatives for professional development of the gender in the Technology market.
The strategy arises from the lack of female presence in careers linked to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). According to the Latin American Development Bank, 60% of college graduates are women, but only 30% of them major in STEM. In terms of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) careers, they represent 28% of graduates. And only three out of ten math and computer science workers are women.
“There are vacancies where we do not receive applications from women. This is a very common reality in the various countries where we have a presence. We observed that, for more technical positions, such as developer, solution architects and data engineers, there are almost no applications for women”, explains Gisele Scalo, director of People Management, highlighting an example that demonstrates the lack of female professionals in the market from you.
Faced with this scarcity, SONDA's strategy aims to foster alliances with institutions throughout Latin America that are focused on encouraging more women to be interested in STEM careers, one of the most promising today. In the last three years, SONDA maintained the representation of women with 29% of the gender composing the staff of professionals throughout Latin America, a reality very close to the market, which is 30%.
“We have already reached almost the “ceiling” of female talent who graduate from these careers and, to increase this number, we have to go beyond internal initiatives. Our actions seek to motivate more girls to be interested in STEM careers, that is, we will start working at the bases”, explains Gisele.
To that end, the company will focus on two types of institutions: those that promote STEM careers among teenage girls and those that prepare college-age youth. Added to the company's internal initiatives, these alliances seek to form a triad to encourage, train and offer job opportunities to young talent, covering the study and work stage.
Internal Practices
In addition to external initiatives, SONDA works on policies and practices to generate organizational awareness on the issue of gender equality. One of the strategies is to reach the core family of employees and address this gap that exists, including education. To this end, the company carries out initiatives aimed at children between the ages of 15 and 18 of the organization's internal teams, seeking to awaken these young people's interest in STEM careers.
Practices to strengthen gender equity in the organization also involve the transitional return of maternity leave, offering another day of telework (three days in total) for on-site employees; extended maternity leave 1 + 1, which offers the same period of paid leave for women who apply for vacation and, finally, additional days of paternity leave, in addition to the days defined by law in each Latin American country.
Currently, SONDA Mulheres includes a series of activities ranging from mentorships, affinity groups, webinars on awareness, publication of success stories with the aim of inspiring other women (Mulheres que Transformam) and hiring policies. As a result of internal policies and practices, the company expects to achieve a satisfaction and commitment index in its climate survey among the women of 80%.
