Coinciding with International Women’s Day, SG Women in Tech (SGWiT), in collaboration with SGTech (the trade association for the tech industry in Singapore), launched a new initiative – The SGWiT Corporate Pledge – where companies pledged to create a conducive environment with support system to attract, retain and develop more women in tech.
Announced by the Patron of SGWiT, Mrs Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs, at the ‘Leading Together in STEM’ webinar organised by SGInnovate (a Deep Tech investor and community developer) in celebration of International Women’s Day, close to 50 companies have come onboard to show support for this new initiative.
The initiative aims to encourage organisations to address the key motivators for young women to take up a tech career, and for women tech professionals to continue to grow and thrive in the tech industry. This demonstrates the collective strength and interest of companies in Singapore in bringing about positive change for women in tech. Examples of these actions include: setting up a Women in Tech resource team in the organisation, providing mentorship, and organising networking activities.
“The pledge by our companies is a strong signal of appreciation for women in tech. This is important as Singapore builds a diverse tech workforce in the Digital Economy. I am heartened by the industry’s efforts to develop our women tech professionals,” said Mr Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
“What they are doing will motivate the younger generation of women to join tech for a rewarding career. We hope to see more companies take action to attract and retain Singapore’s women tech talent,”
“Gender diversity is top of mind for SGTech. We are keenly aware of the gender imbalance in the tech industry. Our collaboration with IMDA is one of many actions that SGTech is pursuing to support women in the tech workforce through our member companies’ coordinated efforts,” said Mr Wong Wai Meng, Chairman of SGTech.
“The idea of tech as a career choice for women must be seeded early, even starting from the toys they play with. We are grateful to our members for their passionate support, and constantly seek to collaborate with strategic partners to nurture a gender-balanced next-gen tech workforce. By actively creating workplaces that empower women to succeed, we are confident the representation of women in Singapore’s tech workforce will increase rapidly over-time.
