Gender Equality in IT and Digitalization
Professional development for managers at the Department of IT for the City of Munich
How can gender stereotypes and biases in tech teams be identified and changed? And how can IT solutions be designed to benefit everyone, regardless of gender? EAF Berlin worked with managers from the City of Munich to find answers to these questions through a series of training sessions.
EAF Senior Experts Lisa Hanstein and Tannaz Falaknaz developed a program on "Gender Equality in IT and Digitalization Processes" and trained over 110 managers from the IT Department across ten sessions.
How do gender prejudices affect professional life and digital products?
Digital applications make work and life easier, especially in cities and municipalities. For example, citizens can easily apply for an ID card from home without waiting for an appointment at the citizens' office. However, the digital world is not inherently fair or gender-neutral; algorithmic bias can make technology unfair. When we specify, purchase, develop, or test digital offerings, we often project our own experiences onto others. Since the IT industry remains male-dominated, digital applications may not sufficiently address the needs of female users.
Furthermore, the lower proportion of women in the IT sector, combined with existing gender stereotypes and unconscious biases, can negatively impact teamwork and organizational culture. This can manifest when men are taken more seriously in team meetings than women, or when turnover rates for female employees in tech teams are higher than those of their male colleagues.
Gender Equality and Digitalization: Embedding Gender Competence in IT
The City of Munich's IT Department addressed this issue with the goal of raising awareness of gender biases in the workplace, providing skills to implement greater gender equality, and empowering managers to act as multipliers.
In our training series "Gender Equality in IT and Digitalization Processes," we explored the following questions:
- Introduction & Awareness: Why is gender equality particularly relevant in my work context and for me as a manager?
- Background: What gender biases might I have, and how can gender stereotypes affect IT teams? Where can digital offerings become unfair?
- Actionable Approaches: What concrete solutions exist for promoting gender equality within the organization and my team? What should we consider regarding recruitment, team collaboration, organizational culture, and IT project work? And what should be prioritized during the procurement and implementation of digital services in administrative practice to ensure they are fair and inclusive of all people in their diversity?
- Transfer & Conclusion: How can we integrate and implement these insights into our daily work?
Contact
If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact the person in charge:
Lisa Hanstein
Senior Expert Diversity & Digital
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