Key Programs Help IBM Retain and Promote Women Tech Leaders

AnitaB.org is proud to offer Top Companies for Women Technologists, a national program to recognize organizations building workplaces where women technologists can thrive. In 2017, we evaluated 63 companies, accounting for a workforce of more than 574,000 technologists. Top Companies is the only program that provides a consistent benchmark of the technical workforce across a wide range of industries.

We’ve expanded Top Companies this year from a single award to four, in order to better reward companies making a commitment to women in the technical workforce. In addition to three awards based on technical workforce size — less than 1,000 employees, 1,000 to 10,000 employees, and more than 10,000 employees — this year we introduced a new Momentum award, recognizing a company that showed a significant growth in women technologists in senior and executive roles.

Our first Top Companies for Women Technologists Momentum Award recipient, IBM, has shown a strong dedication both to implementing programs that make a difference and reporting on the metrics that prove success.

“IBM’s focus on diversity and inclusion — core to our values and culture for more than a century — has provided a vital source of innovation” said Marie Wieck, Blockchain General Manager at IBM. “We’re continuing to build upon that legacy by investing in our community of women technologists through skills and leadership programs that include five million hours of professional development annually. I believe one of the industry’s greatest opportunities is for both women and men to proudly and actively champion women in STEM fields.”

According to our 2017 Insights Report, women continue to be significantly underrepresented at the top of the technical career ladder, and progress is slow. Lack of advancement is one of the top reasons women cite for leaving the field; this loss of talent hurts women and impacts the rate of innovation. To combat this problem, IBM’s leadership has invested in two programs that have helped move the needle in their drive to improve the representation of women in senior and executive roles.

• IBM Pathways to Technical Leadership helps upcoming technical leaders identify their career aspirations and develop leadership skills. The program provides workshops, mentoring, and personalized training. Senior leaders actively engage with the program by offering shadowing opportunities, hosting roundtable discussions, and attend training development courses as well as other events.
• IBM Tech Re-Entry helps women who have been out of the workforce for several years  rejoin the tech industry. IBM designed the program to provide “adult interns” with hands-on experience, mentoring, and workshops to help them succeed. A multidisciplinary team of IBM scientists, engineers, and business professionals helps participants hone their expertise to shore up their success in the workplace. To date, all Tech Re-Entry participants have been recommended for full-time offers.

We’re proud to recognize IBM’s efforts, and to help the company’s leadership quantify their progress toward a more equitable workplace. If you’d like to join the ranks of companies that measure what matters, preregister for our 2018 Top Companies for Women Technologists program. You’ll receive important updates on Top Companies deadlines, and be able to start gathering data for for your submissions next April.