A DEI Chat With Carla Ricchetti, Investment Professional at the World Bank, IFC
On 30 May, I had a live fireside chat on LinkedIn Live with Carla Ricchetti, a global investment senior officer at the World Bank about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and specifically gender equity in new technologies.
Carla has over 15 years of experience working in global investment in disruptive technologies, including medtech, health, renewable energies, green buildings, and more.
She has a strong emphasis on emerging markets and focuses on investments in companies that set industry standards in technology and adhere to rigorous Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.
In our session, we talked about DEI and the role of innovative technologies in bridging the gender gap worldwide.
According to the 2023 Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), it’s going to take 131 years to reach full gender equity globally. This number is dramatically higher in some regions.
New technologies have the potential to promote equity and give women access to better careers and higher-paying jobs.
The reality however is that the gender gap in technology is even wider than in other industries and tech continues to to be male-dominated across the world.
According to the WEF, “women make up only 26% of AI jobs globally. The situation is even more dire in cloud and data, where the numbers are 15% and 12% respectively.”
We discussed some of the challenges to promote representation of women in those industries:
- Bias and stereotypes: many jobs in disruptive technologies are associated to men and there is an unconscious bias that impacts perception (of both men and women), choice of careers, and hiring and promotion opportunities. Unconscious bias is also embedded in algorithms and AI, making the gender gap even wider.
- Underrepresentation in studies: although at a global level, gender parity has been almost reached when it comes to education, (Undergraduate education 45%-55%; graduate education (53%), and PhD studies (43%), women only make up 35% of STEM students.
- Lack of role models: having successful women in leadership positions in disruptive technologies is key to inspire the younger generations, yet the examples are still limited. In 2023, women represented only 14% of tech leaders worldwide, highlighting the wider gender gap in leadership positions.
Carla also shared valuable personal tips and the mindset she used to overcome the obstacles that come with being a trailblazer. Her session is particularly relevant for women who want to explore a career in disruptive technologies, men allies and organizations who want inspiration to drive equity in their organization.
Watch the replay here.
