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Set up female focused initiatives
Establishing initiatives primarily focused on and driven by women checks multiple tick boxes. First and foremost they
establish a community of like-minded female professionals, who can support each other and work together towards a
common goal. Secondly, if company leadership is sponsoring the programme, it shows that they are listening. They care . about the ultimate goal and are willing to support, something that should inspire and motivate.
KPMG’s Its Her Future programme does just this. Its vision is to empower young women to be architects of change across
the technology industry, through a number of different initiatives. It aims to give the 40-strong team a sense of purpose and
motivate them with the comfort of knowing that KPMG’s MC leadership team are right behind them. Furthermore, the
programme looks to target remediate key issues faced by women in technology through projects such as mentoring, skills
workshops and technical confidence development.
Use gendered wording in job descriptions
Beware of the power of words. To encourage the female millennial to feel confident enough to apply for that first interview,
employers should pay close attention to the language used and what it signals. Female millennials generally respond better
to nurturing, positive language as opposed to competitive connotations that entice males. (14)
When skimming through a job description or a marketing campaign, their eyes are drawn to phrases which promote
collaboration and team working, as opposed to suggesting an environment of competition and being pitted against each
other. Female millennials can absolutely embody “dominant”, “strong” and “competitive” characteristics, but it’s worth
noting that this wording is often a cue for an atmosphere which is unwelcoming and potentially toxic.
The verdict?
Unfortunately gender typecasts are sticking around for a little longer, at
least in the technology sector anyway. But by proactively taking action
now, companies can help in the effort to banishing these stereotypes to
the archaic ages – where they belong.
© 2017 KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG
International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
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