Gender diversity in tech, specifically in startups, has been a hot button issue in the last week or so. The rather depressing bottom line is that women remain under-represented in the field; only 16% of 2018 VC deals were secured by female-founded tech companies, Britain is behind other developed nations on equal pay (13 out of 33) and only one in ten startups have a female founder.
Rather than letting this dampen our spirits on International Women’s day, at Work in Startups we wanted to showcase some of the high-flying female-founded startups that are flouting the statistics.
On Work in Startups we have been looking at the way we promote diversity internally through open communication and learning, but also externally via our platform. We looked at how diversity is championed on the site and found that there are currently* 88 live ads where the startups in question advertise themselves as diversity-focused employers, 22 of which specifically say they are interested in improving their gender diversity. To put this in perspective, our parent company Adzuna (a job board aggregator with comprehensive UK coverage), had 626 live ads at the time of writing where companies explicitly mention diversity as important to them, 49 of which specify gender as an area they are focused on promoting diversity in.
Interestingly, looking at all the ads posted on Work In Startups in the last six months, there has been a 48% YOY increase in postings containing diverse search terms like ‘diversity’, ‘female’ and ‘BAME’. In a week of troubling statistics this is certainly a glimmer of hope, but we’re focussed on improving the overall percentage of our total ads actively promoting diversity.
*Based on all live ads containing the word ‘diversity’ in their bio from October 2018-March 2019, out of a total of 18’755 live ads at the time of data collection.
But: today is not the day to be retrospective, we’d far prefer to champion the high-flying women who have defied the odds and created interesting careers in tech and startups.
Now for the pièce de résistance: five high-flying women who have founded startups
Doctify
Stephanie Eltz is the co-founder, CEO and overall wonder woman behind Doctify – a service that connects patients and healthcare professionals across a variety of specialisations. It is the leading platform in its field, working with 5’000 consultants, clinics and hospitals across the UK. Stephanie, an orthopaedic surgeon herself, continues to flout stereotypes on women in tech and is a pioneer of female medtech.
If you want to work for this kick-ass company, they’re currently advertising an Account Manager with us.
Inkpact
Inkpact create personal connections between businesses and their customers through personalised, painstakingly beautiful handwritten messages. Charlotte Pearce and her co-founder Andrew Martin built on this momentum with innovative, but simple-to-use tech which allows businesses to design, personalise and pay with ease (not to mention organise their 250 strong ‘Scribe Tribe’!) Inkpact is truly a symbiosis between tech and human communication and a perfect example of a high-powered woman in tech.
Inkpact have recently filled a role with us but will undoubtedly be scaling soon, so watch this space.
DAME
DAME is a sustainable personal care startup on a mission to “turn our bathrooms green” with high performance, low-impact alternatives to everyday products. Celia Pool and her co-founder Alec Mills initially set up a period subscription service in 2015, delivering a range of branded products to women across the UK. It was here they saw first-hand the impact tampons were having on our bodies and the planet, promoting them to create their own product line (including the first reusable tampon applicator, lovingly called D). DAME aims to reduce plastic waste in UK landfills and beaches, remove toxic chemicals from personal care products and promote more open language about menstruation. Overall, a unique product and company with a seriously cool message.
We love DAME at Work in Startups, and excitingly they used our platform to hire for the D product launch.
The Author School
The Author School is the collaboration of two leading ladies; Helen Lewis, Director of Literally PR and Abiola Bello an award-winning children’s/YA author. They created a platform to provide aspiring writers access to resources, best practice, and the ability to self-publish. The Author School accomplish this through their new INK! Quality Self-Publishing Service and classes like The Author School Day (next on April 5th 2019). This really is an interesting and helpful platform so worth a look if you’re the literary type – plus we’ve given you two amazing female co-founders for the price of one! What’s not to love?
If we can drag your peepers away from your masterpiece manuscript, keep your eyes peeled as they’re going to be hiring some new talent in the coming months.
For more startup jobs from our huge employer community (including the companies we have featured here) check Work in Startups.