A new survey shows there are fewer women in leadership positions in science, technology, engineering and math fields today than just a year ago.
MetLife’s annual Triangle Tech X report shows women in STEM leadership ranks — from managers to team leaders to executives — fell 14% over the past year, said Bill Pappas, executive vice president and head of technology and operations at MetLife (NYSE: MET).
It’s an issue the company is paying attention to in light of its promise to create hundreds of jobs in Cary, where the company already has a sizable presence. Pappas, speaking in advance of the firm’s fourth annual Triangle Tech X Conference scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 1, said the company is “on track” to meet its goal of adding 400 jobs by the end of the year.
MetLife is embedding a push for diversity into its recruitment tactics — particularly when it comes to women. Pappas said it starts with a “top-down” approach and uses as evidence the fact that MetLife CEO Michel A. Khalaf personally chairs its diversity, equity and inclusion committee.
“Gender parity has always been on our radar screen,” Pappas said.
The new TTX report on women and STEM shows why, he said. It will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming conference, which will also include leaders from firms such as IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Dell (NYSE: DELL), SAS and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO).
The report, released Nov. 17, shows most employees at U.S. companies report concern over the impacts of global socioeconomic challenges and think progress is happening too slowly. Employees surveyed said having more women in STEM is critical to moving the needle on socioeconomic issues — yet many women struggle with barriers to their career progression.
MetLife has done these kinds of surveys every year ahead of its conference. Three years ago, it quantified data that has long been discussed in the tech industry — how gender parity was lacking in the STEM arena. Last year, its data outlined how the pandemic had led to a decline in women in STEM.
This year’s survey puts it into context further, finding that gender parity helps with broader socioeconomic issues. Pappas says it’s evidence that the industry needs to take a hard look at diversity. At MetLife, it’s a bragging point, he said. 52% of its workforce is female, 41% of its leadership.
“We have some pretty good statistics, it shows progress,” he said, noting that in order to be competitive in recruiting, MetLife has to keep it up.
At its conference, the plan is to engage with others on the issue. The event will be keynoted by tennis pro Serena Williams.
