Diversity and inclusivity aren’t matters of opinion. Diverse perspectives make the world a better place and allow us to achieve more. This is why we’ve established unambiguous, clearly measurable goals for the diversity and inclusivity of our Solita community. But we also want to be a force for positive change for the industry as a whole.
At Solita, everybody should feel comfortable to be themselves, ‘with all their perfections’.
Diversity of all kinds is our strength; be it skills, nationality, beliefs, age, gender or sexual orientation. It is embedded in our culture and core values.
We care about each other, people and society as a whole. We focus on changing the world, not people.
Diversity and inclusivity are important as such, not just to help us grow our business and Solita as a company.
Our diversity and equality efforts have been ongoing for several years. In 2018 and 2020 we conducted equality and integrity surveys to identify development areas. Since 2021, the themes of diversity and equality have been included in our employee experience measurement. In 2021 we also launched quantifiable diversity targets.
Improving our gender balance is a natural starting point. The ICT industry has always been male-dominant. For example, in Finland nearly 80% of university level ICT students are male. The time has come for a change, both in our Solita community and across the industry as a whole. Our initial diversity targets are aimed at improving our gender balance and increasing the number of nationalities represented in our community.
30%
female
by the end of 2023
(now 27 %)
But that’s just the first step and the tip of the iceberg. In the long term, we are committed to strengthening a culture of inclusivity that embraces diversity of all kinds.
We are focusing on gender balance in our hiring and actively working to eliminate unconscious biases in our hiring processes.
We’re participating actively in networks that improve women’s position in the ICT industry.
We’re increasing our collaboration with universities and other educational institutions, with the aim of making ICT more accessible to women.
We’re investing heavily into career and development possibilities and are actively working to ensure diverse participation.
We’ve launched Solita Women FWD, an internal forum for advancing gender equality and highlighting industry role models.
We’re training all of our team leads, project managers and directors to understand cognitive biases and to promote diversity.
From beginning of 2022 onwards, diversity and inclusivity training will be available to all Solita employees and we’re including it in our onboarding process.
We've established a diversity and inclusion working group that consists of Solitans.
We are investigating possible salary imbalances related to gender and balancing any that are found.
We’re working actively to ensure a more diverse representation in our company blogs, social media presence and other communications.
We are launching a diversity status dashboard that is accessible to all Solita employees.
The fourth industrial revolution is here, opening up the opportunity to create a completely new society. AI is no longer the future, it is the present. But gender inequality in the tech sector spans both the real and the virtual worlds, and risks shaping our entire future.
