Earlier this month, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust at the University of Luxembourg sponsored an event run by Luxembourg Legal Hackers celebrating International Women’s Day, with the aim of sharing local success stories. Hosted by Arianna Rossi, a post-doctoral researcher at SnT and founder of Luxembourg Legal Hackers, the event entertained a dialogue with professionals based in Luxembourg who serve as protagonists of entrepreneurship and digitalisation projects – areas where female potential still needs to be fully unlocked. Naturally, they’re also very active in the promotion of gender equality.
The event was organised by the Luxembourg Legal Hackers, which is part of a global grassroots movement that was launched nearly 10 years ago to foster open access to legal knowledge and technology.
The roundtable welcomed talks from numerous prominent female leaders, entrepreneurs and gender equality specialists in Luxembourg, including:
- Marina Andrieu (Executive Director and Co-Founder of Women In Digital Empowerment (WIDE))
- Sabine Mersch (Founder of The Privacy Office)
- Charlotte Wirion (Chief Technology Officer of WEO)
- Skerdilajda Zanaj (Associate Professor of Economics and Gender Equality Officer of the University of Luxembourg)
The topics of conversation were steered towards solutions rather than challenges, which so often shapes the discussion of gender equality. Instead, the panel highlighted success stories, as well as the initiatives that exist in Luxembourg to support female entrepreneurs and women in tech. The biggest question is, how do you change a culture of gender inequality? Taking incremental steps is needed, by everyone, to ensure that we pave the way for a more equal future.
The panel discussed how it can prove more difficult to hire women, as there is generally a low number of females in some technology-related professions. The choice for recruiters is therefore predominantly males in reflection of this, however recruiters must be aware of their possible bias to ensure an equal opportunity exists regardless of gender. They must stay open minded and not hold any expectations to ensure the best person for the job is hired. Studies have actually shown the existence of an affinity bias in the workplace. When hiring, people tend to gravitate toward someone who resembles them, in appearance, beliefs or background. In tech careers, this bias can work against women when mostly men occupy positions in an organisation. However, opening up hiring decisions to a team can provide a partial solution to the problem – since it allows the ability to be more objective and raises awareness of potential bias.
Influencing women to pursue a career in STEM needs to start from a young age. While this could potentially be achieved in school, influence from parents is also a big factor – and could undo the work achieved in schools. Culture, family, networking and entrepreneurial projects – we find gender inequality in all these contrasting areas of life. The talks highlighted a study by Harvard on gender inequality in venture capital funding, with only 13% of the funding going to start-ups led by women. On International Women’s Day itself, the EU announced its continuation of the EU Prize for Women Innovators, as well as many other initiatives aimed at supporting women in research.
Events and initiatives like this one can allow women to make an impact on every generation regardless of gender, and bring awareness to how they interact with young girls – ensuring that they’re instilling the idea that they can study anything they set their heart on. “We want to see women in leadership positions, at the head of FinTech start-ups here. Luxembourg is one of the most prominent financial centres in the world, yet there are few women in this field. I am confident we have excellent female candidates to be entrepreneurs,” explained Marina Andrieu, co-founder of Women In Digital Empowerment (WIDE).
Prof. Skerdi Zanaj, concluded by explaining the importance of celebrating the International Women’s Day, stating, “We don’t question the celebration of other events, but we often ask if the International Women’s Day should be celebrated. March 8 is part of history – we should remember it so that we can advance together towards gender equality. But gender equality is to be celebrated and remembered every month and day of the year.”
Ultimately, gender equality in STEM professions still has a long way to go. Women supporting and empowering women is a starting point in the field. Being a woman in a male dominated industry should not create dilemmas, such as choosing between having children and advancing your career – or even becoming an entrepreneur. For Sabine Mersch, it was the only way in which she could reconcile her work and family life – contrary to what is commonly believed. Women must also be empowered, starting from their youngest years, within their culture and family, at school and their workplace. This can help later down the line with feeling more encouraged to follow a path of entrepreneurship, as statistically men are believed to be more comfortable in taking risks than women.