HR Tech Group’s Inaugural Diversity In Tech Dashboard Survey Poised To Reshape BC Tech Industry Benchmarking

By AIT News Desk On Feb 4, 2021

More than 70% of tech companies across the province have either set or are considering setting diversity and inclusion goals for their organization

HR Tech Group is proud to announce the launch of its inaugural Diversity in Tech Dashboard. The Diversity Dashboard, one of several pilots within the scope of HR Tech Group’s overarching Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Tech Project, provides a benchmark for BC’s Tech sector to track it’s progress on increasing the representation of under-represented groups within the sector over time. This launch follows on the heels of the launch of the D&I Resource HUB, a platform that provides access to over 300 diversity and inclusion curated tools and resources for employers to elevate their policies and practices.

The 2020 dashboard survey results show the largest proportion of responding employers, 44%, have indicated they are currently considering adopting D&I goals. The remaining group is split evenly between those that already have goals in place and those that are not considering goals at this time. When looking at those that have actual policies in place, while only 13% of employers currently have formal D&I policies, more than 60% either have informal policies or are in the process of considering adoption. The dashboard will help to compare this number year over year and track general employer progress on implementing these initiatives.

“We are incredibly proud to be launching the Diversity in Tech Dashboard as a way for the tech sector to track its progress in this important area,” said Stephanie Hollingshead, CEO, HR Tech Group. “We have seen some very encouraging trends towards more inclusivity this year, however real change can only be seen if we track progress over the years to come. Having the dashboard on the HR Tech Group D&I Resource HUB will provide data that holds the sector accountable to increasing the representation of under-represented groups. As we approach 2021, we are now seeking additional funding to keep the momentum of the Project. In particular, we want to continue to produce annual benchmarking to report and measure progress in the sector. We hope to receive support from all levels – provincial, federal and private.”

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Results from the survey show that there continues to be a gender imbalance in the tech industry, with just over 30% of respondents identifying as women. Representation of women in the industry trends heavily towards non-technical roles, with the highest female representation seen in the Human Resources and Administration job families at 83% and 82% respectively. Looking specifically at Software Engineers and Developers – the largest job family within the dataset – female representation is significantly lower at 15% relative to the 31.9% female representation reported across all employees. Executive level jobs are overwhelmingly held by men, with 71% reporting to identify as male.

43% of employees in the survey self-identify as a visible minority, with the highest proportion of those employees working within the Manufacturing and Finance job families. At the executive level, representation drops to 24%. “The significant lack of under-represented individuals at the executive level, calls attention for organizations to consider diversity, equity and inclusion in not only their recruitment process but also their retention and succession planning,” said Kathy Gibson, Sr. Project Manager / Consultant of the HR Tech Group D&I Tech Project.

The demographic groups with the lowest representation in the sector are people with disabilities (apparent or non-apparent), Indigenous peoples, and those in the LGBTQ+/2S community. From the data collected, 8.2% of people self-identify as LGBTQ+/2S, 2.1% of people self-identify as a person with a disability and only .5% of people self-identify as Indigenous.

The Diversity Dashboard showcases data from a survey conducted for HR Tech Group in partnership with Mercer, from 136 organizations and 14,123 individual employees.