Closing Manufacturing’s Gender Gap

Summary

A recent study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Mass Challenger, a network of start-up accelerators, found that women tech founders get less investment funding than their male counterparts—despite the fact they make double the revenue. Here, Claudia Jarrett, US country manager at EU Automation, explains why the business case for greater diversity in manufacturing is stronger than ever―and how the Internet of Things (IoT) will contribute in making it happen.
 
According to the United States Census Bureau, women working in engineering occupations increased from 3 per cent in 1970 to 15 per cent in 2019. Despite continued efforts to promote women in engineering, including the upcoming International Women In Engineering Day on June 23, there’s still some way to go, and roles relating to the Internet of Things (IoT) are also male-dominated.
 
The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 report of 2020: states that, “Giving equal access and opportunities to all people to work under fair and equitable conditions is simply the right thing to do.” But reasons to employ more women in IoT-related roles go beyond the moral imperative.
 
The law also requires employers to strive for gender equality. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 explains that “Multinational organizations need to consider the rights and entitlements given to potential employees across different locations by law when they operate in these different legal environments […] to evolve towards even greater fairness in light of new workplace technologies and practices.”
 
With each of these key points, the WEF refers to the importance of technology: “Moral questions posed by new workplace technologies and practices only further underline the need to build organizational cultures that proactively engage the entirety of their workforce on these issues.”
 
So, how can manufacturers leverage IoT technologies for better equality in the workplace?
 

Avoiding bias

Diversity and the development of the IoT can benefit each other. With artificial intelligence (AI) for example, algorithms should be based on diverse datasets or, in other words, a diverse cross-section of humanity to avoid biases. Avoiding bias will be essential for preventing unrepresentative training or recruitment programmes, for instance.
 
IoT devices are also an ideal way to glean data from various demographics. We see examples of this in consumer technology, like smart speakers. According to IoT For All’s article Embracing Diversity and Inclusion in IoT, smart speakers are owned by an even cross-section of US society ― including 26 per cent Hispanic and 19 per cent black owners. As a result, “Data from these devices won’t heavily skew towards any one race or ethnicity,” says the report.
 
The principle of gleaning data to avoid bias can be applied to IoT devices in manufacturing environments. For example, Maersk, despite being in based in the traditionally male-dominated shipping and logistics industry, has taken several initiatives towards giving equal opportunities to new and existing employees.
 
With over 70,000 employees, Maersk wanted to achieve greater gender parity in its recruitment process. To achieve this, it took the unusual step of partnering with a game studio to develop an online game for hiring managers. The game was used throughout the recruitment process to nudge users in instances where bias might exist―for example, gendered language in a job advert which could then be fixed.
 
Technology can therefore play a crucial role as an enabler of greater diversity and inclusion — and this is needed now more than ever. According to STEM Women, an organisation working to encourage more women into the field, 60 per cent of female STEM students feel they have had their future career prospects affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 

Sense of belonging

Diverse teams benefit manufacturers on a cultural level. As Forbes reports: “Diverse teams are better positioned to unlock innovation that drives market growth, which is essential in  fast-growing and evolving Industry 4.0 manufacturing areas.
 
The WEF’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 findings also support the argument for market growth: “Companies that fall behind their regional and industry peers in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging see a competitiveness penalty, being 29 per cent less likely to achieve above-average profitability than their market mean.”
 
The same report says that “Companies leading their geography and industry for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging perform better than their market average,” being 25-36 per cent more likely to outperform the market average on profitability with an up-to 20 per cent higher rate of innovation. Indeed, it could be said that manufacturing teams in the IoT space won’t meet their full potential unless they strive for expansion and inclusion.
 
However, to truly yield the benefits of inclusivity, companies must look beyond diversity for its own sake and provide open and inclusive work environments with a sense belonging for all employees.
 
IoT systems will prove crucial to this. One example, cited in Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC)’s Digital Factories 2020 report, is the electronics giant Philips that employs 2000 workers of 35 different nationalities and backgrounds at its manufacturing site at Drachten, Netherlands. The plant itself is also within a large network of 16 high-tech manufacturing companies across Northern Europe and, according to Philips, its IoT systems facilitate better communication, worker collaboration and inclusivity throughout the network.
 
With human machine interfaces (HMIs), share reporting and enhanced communications capabilities, the IoT can provides data-driven insights and scalable solutions that can challenge our thinking and create new working cultures. Implementing these data-driven technologies can seem expensive, and manufacturers might believe that Industry 4.0 requires significant capital investment from businesses.
 
However, the key may lie in applying the latest specialist technologies, like sensors, as part of a low-cost digital retrofitting strategy. This is where an industrial automation parts supplier like EU Automation can help.
 
As the world moves on from the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing will need more diversity of thought than ever. To unlock innovation and revenue generation, manufacturers must embrace the full potential of the IoT.