Attracting More Indigenous Women to Tech Jobs a Solution to Sector’s Staffing Challenges: Tech Exec

A new study says the technology industry has plenty of untapped potential for indigenous women. Photo courtesy Ethical Digital

A new study says the world of technology offers opportunities for indigenous women—and for the industry.

A recent study done in Saskatchewan found there is considerable room, and interest, in getting more indigenous women involved in tech.

“It’s not just being a developer,” Katrina German, CEO of Ethical Digital told The Epoch Times. “There’s a lot of other ways—you need marketers, you need people who understand the finance space … you need graphic designers, all sorts of things like that,” she said.

Ms. German runs Ethical Digital, a digital marketing firm that aims to “change the trajectory of the internet” to make it more accessible. And while they’ve had a lot of different women go through their programs, very few were indigenous.

“We’re constantly looking for people and qualified people to work in these different industries who are willing to work in the Saskatchewan area,” she said. “And I’m like, hold on, we have a whole workforce here at home.”

So, Ethical Digital launched a study led in part by indigenous women, to see what the challenges are.

Ms. German said she expected one of the reasons would be a lack of role models. But somewhat to her surprise, that was not the case.

“What we ended up finding is that there was a lot of the indigenous women who knew people who worked in technology or use technology primarily in their work,” said German.

Instead, she said, the study found four main barriers:

• Finances to improve education.
• Leaving families and communities to access opportunities.
• Educational and professional requirements to pursue training in the tech industry.
• Family and childcare obligations.

But while the study found barriers, it also found interest.

“There are quite a few women who actually did say yes, I’m interested there’s something here that holds interest for me,” said German.

Benefits

They also found many indigenous women who said they are quite comfortable with technology.

The study found 78 percent were either “familiar or very familiar” with technology. And 50 percent had more than five years of experience working with technology in a professional setting.

But barriers to doing more included a lack of training opportunities—and lack of good internet—in some of the communities where they lived. And for many, family obligations can be a challenge to leave, either for training or a job elsewhere.

Ms. German said that’s where the options offered by a career in technology can end up being a good fit.

“It can actually give people a good career and the other side of it … most situations do have a lot of flexibility in terms of schedules, as long as you’re meeting deadlines, oftentimes that’s what’s required,” she said.

“A lot of tech companies allow you to work virtually, and so … the family obligations that a lot of women have … a lot of that is really addressed by the assumption that you can work from home.”

Ms. German also believes indigenous women can bring qualities to the table that many technology companies are looking for.

“Ultimately what technology is for, is for solving problems. And so, there’s also this opportunity for people once they get comfortable creating and building in that space to potentially start their own companies and solving problems that they see in their day-to-day lives,” she said. ”So, there’s absolutely opportunities that can be addressed using technology that maybe the people who are creating technology right now just don’t see.”

Ms. German pointed to studies that have found a diverse workforce, if properly managed, can improve a company’s profitability.

“Especially in the innovation space, they can just see risks and opportunities in different ways,” she said.

On top of that, she said, there is the possibility of new business startups.

“There’s a lot of people who are very interested in entrepreneurship from the communities that we talked to.”

There is no question the tech industry is growing in Canada. A Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) study from 2022 predicted 24.2 percent growth for the tech sector, from 2021 to 2024. Revenues are growing by more than 9 percent per year.

“By the end of 2025, employment in the digital economy will reach 2.26 million people, reflecting the addition of 250,000 jobs since 2020,” said the report.

“Entrepreneurs are already experiencing great difficulties in finding the qualified tech workers they need,” it added. “Some tech entrepreneurs have already increased salaries by 20 to 25% in an attempt to retain current workers.”

The study said 55 percent of tech employers are struggling to find enough employees.

It’s numbers like these that Ms. German and others believe point to opportunity.

“We’re already developing a lot of partnerships between the technology and the indigenous community,” she said, adding many organizations are working along similar lines.

“We’re sharing this report nationally, through the media … we’ve been emailing it to technology accelerators and incubators across the country.”

She said while more work is needed, the potential is there.