Berlin is making technological leaps, but is German tech leaving women behind?

The scientific love story behind the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, developed by the wife-and-husband German team of Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin, is the latest example of trailbrazing German scientific innovation. But while BioNTech’s success has been celebrated for the fact both Türeci and Sahin are children of Turkish immigrants, Türeci’s sudden prominence is also a reminder of the challenges facing German women in STEM, writes Colin Stevens.

In fact, on the heels of BioNTech’s breakthrough, the German government announced management boards with more than three people must include women, in a step towards balancing gender representation in the boardroom and across the economy as a whole. In the words of federal minister for women Franziska Giffey: “We are setting an example for a sustainable, modern society. We are exploiting all of our country’s potential so that the best in mixed teams can be more successful. Because nothing is done voluntarily, and we need guidelines to move forward.”

Whereas nearly all major US companies and almost nine of ten firms in France report more than one woman on their boards, Germany can only say this about four of their most important companies. As highlighted by the EU’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and its newly-released 2020 Women in Digital (WiD) Scoreboard, this gender imbalance is particularly prevalent in the technology sector, and not just in senior management.

Far more than a technical hitch

On paper, Germany is doing well in terms of 'texperts', according to DESI, which measures the performance of EU member states in aspects of the digital economy and digital society. The country boasts the highest number of IT graduates in the EU, at an impressive 1.6 million, and the city of Berlin is a melting pot of dynamic startups and established corporations.

Germany’s status as a leading hub for research begs the question of why women continue to be marginalized, even as COVID-19 aggravates inequalities. While Angela Merkel’s new 30% quota is a good policy to get women into leadership positions, it won’t solve the lack of women in IT. DESI’s human capital indicator and Germany’s WiD scorecard demonstrate that, in comparison with its 27 European peers, the proportion of female IT specialists in Germany remained practically unchanged between 2011 and 2019, with women representing only one out of every six individuals working in the field.

One of the primary causes of this imbalance: gender roles that remain rooted in tradition, driving a lack of childcare facilities in the workplace as well as the ‘unadjusted gender pay gap’ determined by the European Commission. German women earn 21.5% less than men, in comparison to a European average of 16.2%; Germany is particularly struggling in average wages paid to women in tech, ranking 14th amongst European peers and facing a gender pay gap of 25% in the sector.

Addressing systematic failures

Given one of the principal ways women enter STEM industries is through research or a female role model at university, it doesn’t help that academia is fraught with obstacles. The way to securing a permanent research contract in Germany involves multiple short-term contracts at different universities. The federal Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz law also states young academics must find full tenure within 12 years of working on these short-term contracts. This disproportionately impacts women, since any career hiatus – including maternity leave – could cost them their job. This also helps explain why, per Germany’s DESI/WiD scorecard, fewer than 12 of every 1,000 German women in their 20s is a STEM graduate, compared to an EU-wide average of over 14.

In the private sector, the burden to make working environments and labour markets more equal has mainly fallen on companies who recognise the importance of diversity, not just from a reputational point of view but also for their bottom line. Companies which do the best job of including women in executive teams have been found to be 21% more likely to outperform their national industry median; L’Oréal Germany offers the ‘For Women in Science Fellowship’ to women in STEM with a child, and BMBF’s ‘Professorinnenprogramm’ supports female STEM professorships.

It is one thing to promote and reward women already in high-up positions, but quite another to encourage women to pursue these roles in the first place. To meet that need, Germany is host to global grassroots organisations pushing for opportunities for female tech talent, such as WomenWhoCode, GeeksGirlsCarrots, and WomenTechmakers. DESI, for its part, sees the grassroots as an important factor in solving the gender gap, and makes a point to report on women’s participation in EU Code Week.

To push the envelope further, industry experts are calling for the German government to provide targeted capacity-building initiatives for women, especially with European stimulus spending in the framework of Next Generation EU.

The Finnish touch

As Europe moves into what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls the “digital age”, women clearly need an equal seat at the table. 3.9% of all EU employment in 2018 came from IT, a figure that only continues to grow, and gender disparity in technology is a Europe-wide issue. Nonetheless, DESI and the WiD Scoreboard highlight Finland and Sweden as top performers, and gender equality-minded tech policies from Finland could serve as a model for expanding Germany’s female IT workforce.

Finland’s attention to gender equality in tech starts with their young, female-led parliament. A study by Inklusiiv has shown diversity initiatives in the country are far ranging, from the use of English to be more inclusive with international employees, to the employment of programmers through Integrify (a company that trains immigrants to code), and the Mimmit koodaa network for women coders. Finnish workplaces also carry out training on unconscious bias, and company leaders engage with public conversations on diversity. Many offices offer part-time or remote work possibilities, as well as mentoring during family leave. Companies are also encouraged to collaborate with schools to involve women and minorities.

On the whole, these initiatives reflect the Finnish understanding that having more women enter the tech profession and auxiliary sectors will ensure there are more role models for young women looking to these fields – and will ultimately make the system self-perpetuating. They have already succeeded in securing for Finland a best-in-Europe WiD score of 74.7, whereas Germany’s 54.2 places it just below the EU average. All the same, given Germany itself has one of just six female leaders in the EU, the Finnish model offers a ready-made template for investing in inclusivity to boost equitable prosperity.

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