Six senior women in Adtech have shared their insights on how the industry is (or isn’t) embracing equity.
Do we still need to break the male bias in AdTech?
This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity, with a focus on understanding the difference between equity and equality.
Gender disparity within the industry?
Ayaan Mohamud , regional vice president, Marketing APAC, impact.com
Yes, undoubtedly. I organise and attend a lot of industry events and whilst women are well represented in functions like marketing, senior business leaders still very much skew white males. In fact, I sometimes struggle to get the diversity I strive for when I’m putting together our own speaker panels.
The good news is that tech companies like impact.com and many others have put concrete policies in place to ensure equity. We have actively worked towards a 50/50 gender split across APAC and have a documented plan in place to ensure our hiring interview panels contain gender and cultural diversity. Sometimes you need to make deliberate steps to achieve parity - including balancing compensation packages and superannuation contributions during parental leave and so forth.
Jaclyn Hadida, country manager ANZ, InMobi
Yes, there is. Let's start with the gender pay gap. There is almost a 23% disparity between males and females in the workforce across all industries when it comes to salaries based on efforts and their roles. Each workforce should undergo a pay gap analysis to understand how they can help make a shift in a balanced, gender-neutral compensation offering. The gender disparity is also evident from the fact that only one in four organisations have a gender balanced leadership team. Leadership is based around the ability to drive growth and change from the front – skills that any gender can leverage. Each industry, each company needs to reflect on their staff’s capabilities and equity, beyond the gender component, for a positive change to occur.
Sophia Warren, client strategy director, DoubleVerify
Whilst I am proud to be part of a company that has an equal gender representation within our leadership team in Australia, unfortunately our wider ad tech industry is still very male-dominated and the statistics available demonstrate that there is still some way to go. The Create Space Census in 2021 highlighted a 33% pay gap for the advertising industry. As we continue to strive for transparency within the industry, I hope we can also create more visibility into the pay gap at all levels to create equal opportunity for all and break down key barriers of entry.
What’s the one thing your male colleagues can do to become allies to help effect change?
Belinda Casselden, head of marketing APAC, TotallyAwesome
We all need to challenge beliefs and behaviours that excuse or justify inequality. It starts with us all. We need to remove unconscious biases and not fall on old patriarchal norms and stereotypes. Men need to champion the cause as much as women. Everyone deserves to be treated fairly, respectfully and equally.
Jaclyn Hadida, country manager ANZ, InMobi
For male colleagues to become allies, it is necessary for them to be educated on recognising equity. Creating educational sessions for males at all levels, will guide their thinking and expose them to the reality between genders. Together with their female counterparts, they can work to elevate each other and combat situations where females are misrepresented and undervalued. Being a mum to two boys, I know it's invaluable they understand how gender equality shows signs of respect, fairness and support to girls and women. These teachings should fundamentally carry though to their adult years, where it will instil ways males can support diverse female colleagues and leaders they believe in.
Georgina Bitcon, area director, Enterprise Solutions ANZ, Meltwater
Practice reflection, and see where you may be able to give up opportunities that come up that are not by merits-based means. Be conscious about the opportunities you have that may have arisen from privileges beyond your hard work and success, and look for ways in which you can make space for greater equity. That doesn’t just have to be gender based. We should be thinking about where we can be more inclusive by offering great opportunities to those who aren't as privileged as us on the inclusion scale in general.
Ayaan Mohamud, regional vice president, Marketing APAC, impact.com
Educate themselves. Because it isn’t their reality, it can be difficult for them to truly understand the issue and see the world through the female gaze. Once the understanding is in place, it’s about finding meaningful ways to help influence active change - whether through influencing company policies or calling out things like casual sexism or a lack of representation. I’m fortunate to work for a leader, Adam Furness our APAC MD, who recognises that there is a problem and actively looks for ways to be part of the change. But it takes a village. We need more leaders in the advertising and technology industries to commit to learning, growing and advocating for equity.
What are the steps you are taking to foster inclusivity?
Juliette Stead, SVP JAPAC, Magnite
I’ve always been committed to ensuring we nurture and empower diverse talent through inclusivity and flexibility. My JAPAC team is 51% female, and we are a highly functioning team of people with diverse voices, opinions, backgrounds and styles. It’s this diversity that makes us successful. Unfortunately, it’s still unusual to have a majority female team in AdTech.
As a leader and a mother, I’m a firm believer in flexibility that can be embraced by all. If we’re just looking at parental involvement, for example, I believe that both men and women should have the opportunity to follow their career ambitions, and to participate in their family lives. Flexibility for all - irrespective of gender, is an important practical way of facilitating that.
Fiona Roberts, managing director, MiQ ANZ
At MiQ we have a very strong culture focused around our people, and DE&I is front and centre of that. For me it's the smaller, every day actions that I think truly deliver on an inclusive culture. Things such as being aware in larger group meetings, that some people aren't as comfortable speaking up as others, and creating space for that person to be heard and have a voice, either in that moment or privately later.
We also host regular fireside conversations around topics such as discrimination, whether it be based on gender, race, religious beliefs etc so that our people have a chance to share their stories, and for others to listen and learn from. Half the battle around inclusivity is creating broader understanding of that which you personally may not be exposed to regularly, and responding with empathy and curiosity.
What programs or policies does your workplace have in place to Embrace Equity? What programs/policies do you wish were in place at the beginning of your career?
Sophia Warren, client strategy director, DoubleVerify
DoubleVerify has recently become the first corporate partner of the SeeHer Education program - the first certificate program combining marketing and gender studies which focuses on educating the next generation of marketing leaders on how to eliminate gender bias at the outset, with the goal of creating a pipeline of talent for the industry that brings a gender-equity mindset to the marketing and advertising industry. DoubleVerify has also introduced a leadership series to ensure that all employees - no matter the stage or level in their career - have the tools available to continuously develop their own skill set and nurture their own voice within the industry. We also have a dedicated yearly professional development budget available to all employees to invest and seek further education in our own areas of interest.
What do you think the adtech industry needs to do to better Embrace Equity?
Juliette Stead, SVP JAPAC, Magnite
AdTech is still a very imbalanced industry in terms of gender equity, particularly at a leadership level, and I believe we need to address this if we are to achieve our full potential in the media landscape. It has been proven time and again that diversity within organisations leads to greater success, and equity is an integral part of that. To effect change, however, we need to act. We need to invest in diversity at every level and take every opportunity to create change. We need to talk to female employees to understand the shortcomings in workplace cultures, and develop strategies to overcome these. Often, one of the best and easiest things we can do is to advocate for flexible work practices that create a more supportive workplace for women. This has started to be more recognised, but there is more work to be done.
Fiona Roberts, managing director, MiQ ANZ
We're still well behind in this part of the industry in diversity in general. We need to get behind programs that are going to bring different perspectives and experience into the industry so we have the opportunity to keep evolving and can attract talent from all backgrounds. People want to work in an industry where they can see people like themselves doing well and aspire to be.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.