Washington | Women are under-represented as workers, particularly in the technology sector. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, women currently account for about 56% of the total workforce. In the US software industry, however, they account for only about 28% of all employees. Various analyses, including McKinsey and Catalyst, have shown that companies with more female executives generate higher revenues than their competitors. A study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that companies with more than 30% women in executive positions are able to generate an average 6% higher net profit than their competitors.
But how can a gender-equitable form of recruiting be established in companies at all? – Experts recommend predominantly structured interview formats that are designed as consistent, repeatable processes and therefore enable a comparison of skills. In this way, prejudices against applicants should be eliminated as far as possible. In the course of this, it is essential to know the existing potential of AI use in these processes. This potential can already be seen in the formulation of job advertisements. For example, women usually feel deterred when a job profile shows an aggressive language. AI applications can scan drafts on it and identify corresponding jobs, possibly also make suggestions for improvement. Demographic data such as race, gender and age can be made invisible to the HR person by an AI application. Conversely, it is also possible to check whether shortlists contain disproportionately high numbers of applicants with a certain social background. In this case, human intervention in the sorting of the AI system would be necessary.
If a company has actually taken up the cause of increasing the proportion of women, it is advisable to start by setting a realistic recruitment target for the company itself. For example, 10 % more women should be hired than before. Appropriate software applications can also help in the implementation of such goals. And, of course, the efforts do not stop after hiring, but only start with in-company training. Women in particular should also benefit from the use of eLearning, since Adaptive Learning Systems, for example, can be used to respond to them individually, which in turn should promote many a talent.
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