In honor of International Women’s Day, we are proud to recognize everyone across our company, in every region, who support and inspire women and people in all walks of life, companies, organizations, governments and individuals.
As part of this journey, over the past six weeks we have encouraged our global employees to participate in the UN Global Compact Academy’s Countdown to International Women’s Day. Through weekly activities, our team members joined peers from around the world in a mix of live and on-demand learning experiences focused on how to take action to achieve gender equality. It’s truly been an eye opening and motivating experience.
“We thank those who took the time to participate in this critically important program and for sharing your insights and perspectives with others.” - Koray Ozturk, VP of Global Compliance
Empowering women and girls are key to breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting economic growth. When we take action through mentoring or sponsoring or raising awareness to support the progress toward gender equality, we create a more equitable world for all.”
Eva Delgado, Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, participated in the UN’s Countdown to International Women’s Day program. She says: “The history for women making an impact in areas of voting, working in professional roles and moving into leadership roles is so significant, but it has a short history and that is staggering. Gender perspectives are important and not only the perspective that women have on matters in business or government, but women in all levels of economic, and cultural diversity.”
At UEI, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees feel valued and respected. We recognize that gender equality is not only a moral imperative but also a business one. Research has shown that companies with more diverse and inclusive teams perform better financially and have a more engaged workforce.
However, a 2020 study by the AnitaB.org Institute found that women make up 28.8% of the technology workforce. The study analyzed data on more than half a million U.S. technologists at 51 participating companies. Although this represents a steady increase from the few years prior, according to Forbes, the percentage of women in the tech sector is lower than the overall labor force, due to “the lack of female mentors, gender inequality in STEM jobs, and not having enough hands-on experience with STEM subjects.”
While more than half of our global workforce identify as women, this number is much lower in the U.S. and also lower among women in managerial and leadership roles. International Women’s Day is a call to action for all of us to challenge gender bias and inequality and create a more inclusive and equitable world.
We know we have a long way to go in our journey. We have a lot of work to do. And that work needs to take place not just today, but every day.
"I have been with UEI for over 16 years and have witnessed our little company grow into a world-wide enterprise! I am encouraged to see that women are being recognized as a valuable asset to all functions within UEI and in Corporate America in general. International Women's Day is a great vehicle to encourage young women to reach heights they may have never considered and celebrate women’s accomplishments globally." -Valerie Ballard is our Paralegal and works with attorneys both inside our legal department, as well as those in other geographical regions around the globe providing legal assistance on a wide variety of legal matters
"The course shines a light on inequality and bias that we all know exists, as well as eye-opening statistics regarding how much society still needs to do to tackle gender equality. Hopefully it will help organizations to perceive ‘closing the gap’ as an opportunity, rather than an obligation. I am looking forward to International Women’s Day and I am proud to work for a company which is serious about such an important topic." - Karen Carpenter, Sales Director
Nearly Two million women* have left the workforce since the pandemic. The US is at an inflection point where organizations need to pivot to support women in the workplace. At UEI, we recently hosted a Women of MENA (Middle East North Africa) in tech networking event to support women and host esteemed speakers to start conversations about women doing amazing things in the workplace. - Stacie Lee, Sr Recruiter, UEI 2 years
*US Bureau of Labor Statistics
