Like A Prayer, We Want Safe Companies for Minorities in Tech

The Allyance newsletter provides many useful references on recruitment, diversity and inclusion.

Morning everyone,

💃 Ever since I was a child, I have been following Madonna’s music career. She has been a true source of inspiration both on the personal and on the professional front. I saw her on stage last Sunday and yesterday. Her Celebration Tour renews the respect I have for her work and her legacy.

Madonna is controversial but she taught me a lot as a recruiter. Let me give you a few examples. 

When I was 12, I used to write everywhere in my notebooks “Never take no for an answer” because it was her motto. Still today, when I am not satisfied by an answer I get, I insist (kindly, because I am not Madonna) and do not give up easily.

Moreover, Madonna has always supported and fought on behalf of  the LGBTQ+ community. She taught me how to embrace differences and support those who face discrimination.

Last but not least, she taught me discipline. When you set a personal goal, always make sure to put in  the right level of work to reach it.

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✅ The Allyance newsletter provides many useful references on recruitment, diversity and inclusion. What follows are some articles about top companies for women, the first Black woman leading Xbox, the list of venture capitalists’ “deadly sins” and French data on women’s representation in tech.

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💡 World’s Top Companies for Women

An increasing number of  companies are recognizing that attracting and retaining female talent means offering employees benefits such as flexible work arrangements, skill development programs, family leave options and a mission that aligns with women’s empowerment. Forbes teamed up with market research firm Statista and published the list of  the World’s Top Companies For Women 2023 in order to highlight their efforts and achievements.

It’s not surprising that tech companies are not doing so well. The first ones to be ranked are SAP and Microsoft. The company that comes first will surprise you and we invite you to explore the ranking by industry!

“According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 47% of women are in the labor force worldwide compared to 72% of men. And when women are employed, they tend to work in lower quality jobs.”

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🕹 The First Black Woman in the President Role at a Major Gaming Company

We know our friends from Afrogameuses are ecstatic about this news! Microsoft appointed Sarah Bond as the new President of Xbox. Before her appointment, she was the leader of Microsoft’s Diversity & Inclusion Initiative as well as the executive sponsor of Blacks at Microsoft Employee Resource Group.

“As a result of the change of leadership at Microsoft, there will be more women in its gaming leadership roles than men by the end of this year.”

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💀 The 5 deadly sins of VC

What does a typical venture capitalist look like?

“In public, we position ourselves as superheroes supporting world-changing startups. In reality, it’s a male-dominated, materialistic culture marked by burnout and cynicism” says Elena Mazhuha. Here are 5 mistakes VCs often make, according to her.

• VCs often overpromise and oversell

• VCs are obsessed with appearing extravagant even when its not within budget

• There’s a lack of transparency in the realm of sensitive financial information

• VCs are often superficial in their assessment of startups

• VCs are so focused on making money they forget we’re in a people-centric industry

“The thing is, all VCs make mistakes, and we constantly feel sorry about it. We just need to remember that we work in a human-centric industry and start caring more about the people around us. And ourselves.”

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👁️ Invisibilité des femmes dans le numérique et sexisme

La semaine dernière, le Haut Conseil à l’Egalité entre les femmes et les hommes a publié un rapport passionnant intitulé “La Femme Invisible dans le numérique : le cercle vicieux du sexisme”. 

Derrière l’omniprésence des technologies et leurs promesses de progrès, persiste une réalité alarmante : les femmes sont sous-représentées les contenus diffusés et les métiers exercés. Elles sont invisibilisées, caricaturées ou agressées dans les premiers, et insuffisamment formées ou recrutées dans les seconds.

Ce rapport mérite d’être lu et partagé est à lire par le plus grand nombre et à partager. Si vous manquez de temps, nous vous invitons à lire le tableau récapitulatif des recommandations, vraie source d’inspiration pour les entreprises et les institutions.

Sur TikTok, 61% des vidéos présentent des comportements stéréotypés masculins et 42,5% des séquences d’humour et divertissement contiennent des représentations dégradantes des femmes.

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⚠️ On a toutes une tête à travailler dans la Tech

Les femmes ne représentent que 27% des effectifs dans les métiers du numérique en France et seulement 15% dans les métiers de la Tech.

En lien avec la journée internationale de l’égalité de rémunération (du 18 septembre dernier), la campagne initiée par Social Builder souligne l'impératif de s'engager en faveur de l'égalité professionnelle en brisant les stéréotypes de genre. 

The Allyance salue Helvira qui fait partie de la vidéo et qui tord le cou aux idées reçues!

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✨ Eric Hartmann, le développeur au grand coeur

Je reviens de 10 jours en Grèce où le soleil m'a fait beaucoup de bien et l’interview de mon chouchou Eric est en ligne!

Dès le premier entretien, nous avons tous les deux joué cartes sur table pour parler de sujets personnels et professionnels. Vous me croyez si je vous dis que l'un de nous a pleuré? 💧

Eric est le genre d'hommes dont la tech a besoin. Il aime ses filles plus que tout, il fait de la veille technologique et est un collègue sur qui on peut compter!

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🔦 The Allyance in the spotlight

Caroline will be a keynote speaker during the PyLadiesCon 2023. It will take place from the 1st to the 3rd of December 2023. You can register here.

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🤫 Backstage secrets

✨ This year, we donated a share of our 2023 revenue to Le Planning familial, Les Enfants d’Arc en ciel et l’Association des journalistes lesbiennes, gays, bi·e·s, trans et intersexes. 

🦄 Morgane was part of a panel discussion dedicated to accessible design. It was organized by Zalando and Figma in Berlin. Check out the event’s pictures!

💻 Caroline led a training for Malt’s engineering team.

🕵🏻‍♀️ Morgane is looking for a Senior Principal Data Engineer.

🕵🏻‍♀️ Belody is looking for a Chief People Officer and Senior Principal AI Product Managers.

🕵🏻‍♀️ Caroline is hiring a Head of AI Applied Scientist.

You can contact us : contact@theallyance.one

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Get Into the Groove!

Caroline Therwath-Chavier, The Allyance CEO