ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grace Hopper Celebration 2017. AnitaB.org today announced Accenture, GEICO, and ThoughtWorks as the winners of the 2017 Top Companies for Women Technologists at its annual Grace Hopper Celebration. IBM received a special Momentum Award for year over year increases in women at Senior and Executive levels.
Top Companies for Women Technologists is a national program that measures the representation of women in technology. This year the program evaluated 63 companies, accounting for more than 574,000 technologists across a variety of fields. In September, AnitaB.org released a report outlining insights from the program.
“We are encouraged by the commitment to improve, demonstrated by all of the Top Companies participants, and our award winners prove that companies can solve the problem of gender diversity in the technical workforce,” said Brenda Darden Wilkerson, president and CEO at AnitaB.org. “These companies are truly the leaders in making technology more welcoming for women through recruiting, retaining and advancing more women in technical roles.”
New this year, AnitaB.org recognized three companies with the highest overall score, categorized by size of their technical workforce. The following award winners were announced by Megan Smith, former chief technology officer of the United States, from the main stage at AnitaB.org’s annual Grace Hopper Celebration today.
Top Companies for Women Technologists 2017 Winners, by size of technical workforce were as follows:
2017 Top Companies for Women Technologists Winner - Accenture
Accenture, one of the largest consulting firms in the world which uses an innovation-led approach to help clients imagine and invent their future, earned the highest total score for a company with a technical workforce of over 10,000 employees. Accenture recently announced that it will achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men, by 2025. In addition, Accenture created the Women in Technology program, which helps fast-track the careers of high-performing women toward the position of Technical Architect – a high-demand, short-supply role.
“We are honored to be recognized by AnitaB.org for our efforts to develop and advance women in technology,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology & innovation officer, Accenture. “Our commitment to gender equality starts at the top – and we believe it makes us a stronger, smarter and more innovative company.”
2017 Top Companies for Women Technologists Winner - GEICO
GEICO, an insurance company with a deep commitment to putting technology at the core of everything it does, earned the highest total score for a company with a technical workforce between 1,000 and 10,000. The company’s corporate culture revolves around promoting diversity and inclusion. GEICO has created several rotational programs for entry level technologists and management that provide ongoing training for continued professional growth.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized by AnitaB.org in support of their strategic mission to lead the charge for the growth of women technologists in the workplace,” said Marie Motowylak, GEICO director of decision sciences and business transformation. “GEICO has always made diversity a top priority by promoting an all-inclusive environment that emphasizes leadership, training and career-advancing roles for women in IT. It’s important that we continue to create these opportunities that lead to successful and rewarding career paths.”
2017 Top Companies for Women Technologists Winner - ThoughtWorks
ThoughtWorks, whose mission is to better humanity through software and help drive the creation of a socially and economically just world, earned the highest total score this year for a company with a technical workforce of less than 1,000. In 2016, ThoughtWorks was the winner of the Top Companies for Women Technologists program, which provided the global technology consultancy a more powerful voice to advocate for positive change.
The ThoughtWorks philosophies and programs improving diversity include a unique approach to hiring that looks beyond the typical computer science degree, purposeful onboarding, and a collaborative culture that values teamwork and shared knowledge over individual heroics. There’s still work to be done and ThoughtWorks remains committed to evolving the conversation and creating a community that nurtures and celebrates multidimensional employees.
“Creating better tech for tomorrow requires all of us to act with urgency today in addressing and solving the challenges of building and maintaining a diverse workforce,” said Dr. Rebecca Parsons, Chief Technology Officer, ThoughtWorks. “We applaud all 63 companies named to the Change Alliance and congratulate Accenture and GEICO, also named Top Companies winners. Collectively we can all make a difference. Upward, together.”
2017 Top Companies for Women Technologists Momentum Award - IBM
IBM is recognized for having the greatest year-over-year improvement in the representation of women technologists at senior and executive levels. IBM has several programs that help mid-career technical women propel their careers including the IBM Pathways to Technical Leadership which helps upcoming technical leaders to identify career aspirations and develop leadership skills. Advancement of women is consistently cited as a key driver of retention. As women at the top serve as beacons for other women in technology, it remains extremely important for companies to create environments where women continue to succeed and attain leadership roles.
According to Marie Wieck, general manager, Blockchain, IBM, "IBM's focus on diversity and inclusion - core to our values and culture for more than a century - has provided a vital source of innovation. We're continuing to build upon that legacy by investing in our community of women technologists through skills and leadership programs that include five million hours of professional development annually. I believe one of the industry's greatest opportunities is for both women and men to proudly and actively champion women in STEM fields."
Information in the 2017 Top Companies for Women Technologists Findings & Insights report and in the recently published AnitaB.org whitepaper on advancement demonstrate the importance of shattering the glass ceiling and removing gender bias for the promotion process.
Interested in participating in the 2018 Top Companies for Women Technologists Awards? Preregister here to receive all important updates for next year’s program.
About Top Companies
AnitaB.org’s Top Companies for Women Technologists is a national program that recognizes companies committed to building workplaces where women in technology roles can thrive. The program uses a rigorous methodology to analyze data from participating organizations and produce insights across three key areas: representation, employee experience, and programs and policies.
The Top Companies program uses data on gender only and does not currently include race and ethnicity information. It is likely the gains in the industry primarily benefit white and Asian women while African American, Latinas and Native American women continue to be significantly underrepresented. ABI encourages all employers to more carefully track the representation of these groups to ensure hiring and advancing more diverse talent benefits more than one dimension.
About AnitaB.org (Previously referred to as the Anita Borg Institute)
AnitaB.org, inspires and guides women in computing and organizations that view technology innovation as a strategic imperative. Founded in 1997 by computer scientist Anita Borg, our reach extends to more than 87 countries. We believe technology innovation powers the global economy, and that women are crucial to building technology the world needs. AnitaB.org is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization.
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