The IT industry is booming, and even with the recent layoffs, over 682,800 new jobs are expected to be added to the U.S. workforce by 2031 – but women are still underrepresented in these roles. According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), women make up 57% of employed U.S. adults, yet only 25% of computing-related roles are held by women. Fewer still are women in software development, engineering, and IT leadership roles. And even more elusive is the representation of women in healthcare IT specifically.
The reasons for this are varied and complex. For instance, workforce gender gaps can also be a result of education level, employee retention, and workplace culture gaps as well. But this gender gap becomes not only a social injustice, but a missed opportunity for companies to strengthen themselves with diverse perspectives and talent, while enhancing their capacity for innovation. Companies with more diverse leadership teams are also shown to perform better financially. But it’s up to our C-level and executive leaders to actively support and encourage women to participate and become leaders in the healthcare IT industry.
How to Support Women Towards Healthcare IT Leadership Roles
Positive cultural change starts with C-level and executive leadership – that’s why it’s so important for our leaders to actively support women within the healthcare IT industry if that’s the change we want to see. Below are clear actions and steps current leaders can take to uplift women in the industry and bring more women to the leadership table:
1. Provide Career Development Opportunities
A powerful way to support women in healthcare IT is to provide equal opportunities for career development. Internal offerings like mentoring, training, and promotion opportunities should be developed and provided to women as well as all other team members.
Ensuring that women have mentorship opportunities in healthcare IT is vital. Not only will this help close the gender gap, but it will also ensure that the next generation of women leaders are passed down the tools needed to be successful. Organizations that provide great mentorship opportunities also show increases of trust towards the organization, job satisfaction, and promotions.
And by investing in a training and development program, organizations also show women and team members that they are valuing them as individuals. It’s important for women to not only be given opportunities to upskill, but to reskill too – this allows employees to prepare themselves for higher responsibilities. Organizations should ensure that they have programs at all levels, from entry level to executive management.
2. Implement a DEI Program
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) isn’t just an initiative, it’s a long-term practice that all companies should fully embrace. Organizations can start by sharing a culture survey to see if the executive team’s perception of DEI pairs up with reality. Based off the results, organizations can begin to make efforts that reach towards the overall goal. Teams can also create a community, group, or advisory board within the organization so that internal voices have the opportunity to be heard, giving way for the opportunity to follow through with positive action. Larger organizations often create position within the leadership team to fulfill this goal, such as a Director of DEI.
By creating a DEI Program, you’ll begin to see positive actions and results that will successfully bridge the gender gap within your organization.
3. Encourage Communication With Leaders & Participation in Leadership Groups
Women team members should have welcomed access to, and be encouraged to, communicate with senior leaders who can become sponsors or provide career guidance. Employee resource groups can also be established for women by their companies to encourage networking, knowledge sharing, and the ability to discuss workplace issues being faced by women.
Women need a pack, especially at work! Not only for women to learn from each other, but to also support each other. It’s important to invest and nurture these relationships by allowing women to grow, learn, and develop skills from one another.
An organization can create its own group to foster these relationships. Likewise, organizations can allow their women team members to join external groups where these relationships already exist. For example, Bluebird Leaders is creating a community for women in healthcare and IT through existing programs for mentoring, peer and executive peer groups, webinars, and annual conferences. This provides opportunities for women to come together and not only learn from the more experienced, but also for the experienced to learn from the younger individuals.
Remember, you don’t do business with a company, you do business with the people. As Madeleine Albright said, “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women,” and we say “there is a special place in heaven for women who support other women.”
4. Understand How Diverse Leadership Brings Creative Solutions
It can be a tough line to walk when it comes to men and women in leadership roles. Women are more often than not still forced to navigate through leadership waters cautiously because of the “double bind” stigma that has been created for women – with women leaders are either seen as too soft but liked, or competent but disliked. With evolving DEI programs and more women taking on executive roles, leaders are understanding and seeing the amazing strengths and skills being brought to the table by women.
C-level and executive leaders should understand how having diverse leadership brings together a multitude of skills and strengths from both men and women. By providing the opportunity for women to join the leadership arena, organizations can experience more creative and innovative solutions, as diverse perspectives lead teams to new ideas and approaches. This understanding also allows leaders, no matter what gender, to use the individual powers of a person for good, allowing both the organization and culture to thrive.
5. Focus On Their Skills, Not Their Gender
Though women still remain underrepresented in IT and leadership positions, a good leader shouldn’t specifically reflect on their identified gender. Leadership styles may differ from person to person, but in order to support a female leader (or any leader, for that matter) it’s important to focus on the individual vs only supporting them for their gender. Leadership skills are about so much more than the individual’s gender – it’s about the skills they’ve collected throughout their career. We need to learn to embrace our differences and find everyone’s leadership superpower to embrace, enhance, and use for the greater good.
“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” – Sheryl Sandberg
6. Lead With Soft Skills Too
Leading with soft skills can be just as important as leading with the hard, technical, complex skills. In fact, soft skills are what can turn good leaders into great leaders, regardless of gender, and are skills that can benefit both sides of the leadership relationship. Here’s a few soft skill tips that any leader should learn to master:
- Lead with kindness, understanding, and compassion
- Be authentic, vulnerable, and honest
- Stay calm under pressure
- Perfect the ability to communicate the company’s mission in various ways so all staff can understand, stand behind, and follow you as a leader
Additional Resources
For more information on women in tech, how to become one, and how to encourage the future of women in the industry, check out these additional resources:
About the Author
Rebecca Woods | Senior Vice President, Client Service
Rebecca is an accomplished senior executive, with over 16 years of experience in health IT and healthcare administration. She’s the founder and Virtual Chief Information Officer of Bluebird Tech Solutions, the Founder of Bluebird Leaders, and host of Divurgent’s The Vurge Podcast. She previously served as CIO for the University of Vermont’s Porter Medical Center, and VP of Provider Solutions for Lake Region General Healthcare, a network of 25 ambulatory primary care and specialty practices. She is passionate about bridging the gap between technological and clinical mindsets, and is uniquely accustomed to partnering with frontline providers in order to maximize efficiency and drive process improvement. Rebecca has also earned a Master of Healthcare Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. To learn more about Rebecca, visit her on LinkedIn.
