WEBVTT - The Equation of Equality for Women in Tech 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.600 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:08.200 Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well. Earlier 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.879 this month, we did um highlight a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.880 School of Public Health study. It was published in the 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.520 lance that we highlighted it on the Bloomberg terminal in 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.880 at Bloomberg dot com. What it showed is that the 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:22.759 pandemic push more women out of jobs than during the 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.959 early months of the pandemic, reversing decades of progress and 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:29.000 education and gender equality. And Tim, we've talked about to 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.440 the pandemics unequal impact too when it comes to minorities. 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.080 So we have the perfect guest to talk about all 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.680 of this, that is Bertina chick A Relli, the CEO 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:40.360 of and Power. And Power is an organization with a 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.960 mission to get people to the middle class from poverty, 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:46.000 and the way they do that is by training when 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:48.160 it comes to tech skills, and they focus on job 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:50.680 placement as well. Bertina, it's good to have you back 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.519 with us. How are you. Thank you so much for 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:55.360 having me back. It's great to be here. Well, what 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:59.120 are you seeing in terms of what what Carol just mentioned. 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.040 Is that something that you're seeing day in and day 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.720 out when it comes to the effects of the pandemic. Yeah, 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.039 I know, it's very real. We have certainly seen women 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:11.000 of color in particular just proportionately impacted by this pandemic 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.600 with a great loss of economic stability um and rising 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.840 demands in terms of childcare and elder care. So the 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:21.039 problem is very real, and I think our opportunity is 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.280 to identify ways in which we can create better pathways 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:29.640 to accelerate another kind of career track that helps these 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.160 women in particular gain an economic foothold. I love that 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.319 you said that, because if we talk about the inequities 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:39.640 that are out there, the inequalities, you know, we we 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:42.000 used to talk about income gaps, That's what it's about. 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:43.679 It's about wealth creation, right, and how do you do 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:46.320 it and how do you help those that haven't had 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:48.880 the same opportunities be on a better path to help 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.680 create generational wealth and so on, And this is something 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:55.320 we've certainly seen blacks and minorities that certain haven't had 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.280 the same access. Tell us about the research you guys 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:01.160 are doing and the specific actions that maybe can move 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.120 black women into positions and technology where it seems like 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.760 every CEO of Bertina that we talked to they want 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.960 tech workers. Absolutely. It is everybody I talked to in 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:12.760 the tech sector right now. It is the number one 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.400 concern is a perceived lack of talent. Let's start with 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.760 what we know and which really guided our research today. 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:24.080 We know that less than five of the tech workforce 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:28.120 in America is comprised of women of color, specifically Black, 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:33.800 Hispanic and American Indian women, and that's just an astonishing fact. 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:36.200 And so we set out with this research really to 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:40.640 understand two things. First, what should that percentage be, what 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:44.280 should we be striving for as a society, And secondly, 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:46.880 what might be some pathways to be able to reach 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.960 a much more ambitious goal. So that was how we 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.320 framed So what are those pathways? So well, I'll tell 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.440 you our findings, right the three things that we walked 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.040 away with this research that we conducted in partnership with 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:02.080 Burning Glass is first, and this really speaks to that 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.760 question of a pathway. First, we found there are five 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:12.000 hundred job classifications right now today where there are similar skills, 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:16.760 abilities and qualifications required to do those jobs. They are 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:21.480 not in the tech sector, but tech adjacent. These are 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.680 jobs like an electronic medical records specialist, right, an individual 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:31.040 who needs to have knowledge of information systems, project management, 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:35.760 customer service quality assurance. And here's the interesting fact. In 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:40.200 those five hundred job categories we mapped for skills similarity, 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.360 the percent of women of color and those jobs are ten. 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.520 So you know, I have to see the double Let me, 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:52.080 you said skills adjacent, right? Is that? Did I get 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.360 that right? That's correct? Remember, I believe talking about this 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:59.600 with the President of the Federalizer Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.480 and has done the same research of saying that there's 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.720 so many skills that aren't in tech jobs that are 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.800 are very similar to skills that are needed in what 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.600 would be classified as tech jobs, and yet those people 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.760 aren't being shown or provided the opportunity to take that 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.600 step uh into that tech community. So so talk to 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:22.039 me more about that. So how do we change that? 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.920 How do we make that better? So? I think, really 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:29.000 where we where we identify this gap, where we know 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.560 that there are skills that are halfway there, and we 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.640 can go the difference that the distance is through short 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:40.120 term skills programs, bridge skills programs like m power and 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.040 a number of others and the way we think about 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:45.880 this right, it was important for us to put some 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:50.080 dimension around how might we benchmark our success And that's 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:54.200 where the equation for equality comes in. When we have 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.960 an equation for equality of one, that's when we know 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.560 the percent of women of color in tech jobs is 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:06.520 equal to the percent of women in these tech eligible jobs, 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:11.000 those five hundred that I mentioned. So when we get 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.400 that one ratio, that means that the investments that we're 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:21.000 making in bridge skilling programs, upscaling recruitment, retaining practices, then 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:24.640 we will have been successful. So I think the first 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:28.800 priority is really to communicate to many of these women 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:33.720 who have a lot of those skills similarity aspects, communicate 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:38.280 the opportunities through these programs, providing the flexibility so they 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.040 can take these types of courses which are often free, 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.880 and get the required certifications and skills to be able 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:48.719 to be connected to much higher paying jobs. Britina, is 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.320 this is this? You mentioned? What happens when we reach 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:53.520 that goal and how we reach that goal. Are you 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:55.960 optimistic that that happens during our lifetimes? I mean, I 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.479 just look at how slow we have been when it 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.320 comes to progress within these realms. Yeah, so I I 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.440 I by nature I'm an optimist, and especially now. And 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.680 the reason the reason is because there is so much 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:14.520 urgency in the business sector on finding great talent and 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:18.000 investing in that talent. We have to do it. And 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:20.760 you know, for a long time we've been very laser 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.400 focused as a society, rightly so on K through twelve, 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:24.960 and we need to continue to do that. And they're 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.680 great organizations like Girls who Code and the Y and 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.760 Urban Alliance. Those efforts need to persist. But we also 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.080 need to recognize the urgency that today tech openings are up. 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:42.920 With these short term programs, we can more quickly position 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.640 these women to take the jobs that are open right 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:50.559 now today. Please just gonna say that that electronic medical 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:55.040 record specialists. The skills she needs are things like operating systems, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.920 network trouble shooting, a little bit of computer and hardware 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:00.400 and software knowledge. Again can all be down through a 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.640 certification process. Her starting salary as a help desk analyst 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.760 will be on average over seven thousand dollars a year more. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:09.880 It's a big difference. It's a big difference. Now we've 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.880 got to just remind you know, corporations right that these 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.640 these workers are out there and it's an easy shift 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:19.800 for them, um to certainly be hired by the tech community. Britina, 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:21.800 we have to run. Good luck with it, UH and 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.040 great to get a check up and just an update 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:25.200 on what you guys are doing. It was good to 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.320 have you back, Britina Chickarelli. She's a chief executive officer 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.400 of and Power, joining us via zoom from Brooklyn. Last 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.920 time we talked with her. Chartier Brentley, our deputy beuer 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:38.520 chief here assistant Deputy beure chief here at Bloomberg and 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.880 joined us for the conversation. But it's it's interesting to 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.080 hear what you're saying. Yeah, really and then look, it 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:44.880 comes just a few days after we spoke to the 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:49.120 folks at UH one huddle about the uh UP skilling 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.880 programs that they do right and new work. It's an 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:53.560 easy shift. A lot of the skills are there, it's 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.320 just a little bit of tinkering and then they can 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:57.320 be you know, have the opportunity to go into a 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:58.360 job that pays them more.