A new survey shows there are fewer women in STEM leadership positions 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 percent over the past year, an alarming finding 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. Pappas, speaking in advance of the firm’s fourth annual Triangle Tech X Conference scheduled for Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, said the company is “on track” to meet that goal of 400 new 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 MetLife CEO Michel A. Khalaf chairs its diversity, equity and inclusion committee personally.
“Gender parity has always been on our radar screen,” he said.
The new TTX report on women and STEM shows why, he said, noting 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 Thursday, 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 long-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 decrease 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 percent of its workforce is female, 41 percent 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.