Each quarter, this podcast releases our research data on the makeup of IT leadership, broken down by race and sex. By surveying public websites, we’re looking to track the change over time.
This quarter, we surveyed 300 companies and four thousand four hundred and eight humans across those organizations. 48% are vendors, and 48% are technology providers. This quarter, we found that 89.8% are White, and 3.33% are Black. The breakdown is also 78.4% male. This is nearly identical to last quarter, although roughly point two percent more Black. The data remains similar between vendors and tech providers. When we look at publically traded or Fortune 100 companies, do the numbers improve for women, now at 27%, up from 25%?
Also of note – this data has been relatively consistent since we began the report in September 2020.
After the Black Lives Matter movement, the S&P 100 added over 300k jobs, with 23% going to black workers. The push for diversity resulted in notable gains for black workers in managerial and professional roles. However, the overall representation of people of color in high-paying jobs at S&P 100 companies remains disproportionate, with white people still holding the majority of these positions. This is from an analysis by Bloomberg News.
A report by the Alan Turing Institute reveals that female-founded AI startups in the UK receive six times less venture capital funding than their male counterparts. Between 2012 and 2022, female-founded AI firms raised £1.3 million per deal, while all-male teams raised £8.6 million per deal. Male-founded AI startups also accounted for the majority (79.6%) of deals, worth £55.1 billion, while female-founded startups only accounted for 2.1% of deals, worth £200 million. The report highlights the gender inequality in venture capital funding and calls for increased investment in female-founded AI companies.
I’m a broken record on repeat. This progress is modest, and significant barriers still exist for women to attain leadership roles in tech. The fact that female-founded AI firms in the UK receive significantly less funding than male-founded firms is a clear indicator of the challenges women face in the tech sector, much less the disparities around race.
This calls for a more concerted effort to address these disparities. Companies need to acknowledge the importance of diversity and actively implement strategies to promote it. This includes creating more inclusive hiring practices, providing mentorship and advancement opportunities for underrepresented groups, and fostering an organizational culture that values diversity. Invest in your people, and make your people as broad a group as possible.