At Santander, we promote gender diversity through several initiatives. In the technology area, we promote the Women in Tech program globally, to raise awareness, create role models and encourage more women to develop their professional careers in the technology sector.
EmbraceEquity: Happy Women’s Day
To celebrate Women’s Day, we are joining the global #EmbraceEquity campaign. This campaign seeks to raise awareness about the concept of equity and how it is necessary to embrace it in order to achieve equal opportunities in all areas of society.
I lead by example and manage diversity like any other KPI to ensure that there is equity in my team. – Cristina Álvarez, Head of Technology and Operations in Spain and Europe
We always have to ensure that all employees and all people can reach their full potential. – David Chaos, Chief Information Officer at Santander
One of the most important things I think I can do to make sure equity is present in my team is to effectively communicate the importance of equity in a way that is easy to understand and be very proactive in building awareness of any unconscious bias. – Niamh de Niese, Chief Digital Officer Santander UK.
Throughout my career leading Technology teams, I have been focused on creating an inclusive environment. This isn’t about “fixing” a certain group, but rather a goal of ensuring equity and inclusivity to encourage a diverse team to develop into the best leaders they can be. – Don Smith, Chief Technology Officer Santander Consumer USA.
One issue we pay attention to is listening, and understanding the daily situations they face so that we can develop strategies to eliminate these practices from our teams. – Soraya Béjar, Director of Human Resources at Santander Digital Services Mexico.
Women in Tech @ Santander: rebuilding a more inclusive tech industry
It is in the IT sector, where job offers are currently four times more than the available talent according to a report by Adigital and Boston Consulting Group. Within this talent shortage, there is also a large gender gap, as on average only around 20% of girls worldwide study STEM careers.
This gender gap starts at a very early age and extends to all levels. The main reasons for this are gender stereotypes and a lack of appropriate role models, according to UNICEF data:
- 70% of individuals in 34 countries associated science with males.
- Some 50% of parents in Chile, Hungary, and Portugal expect their sons to have a STEM career but less than 20% had this expectation for their daughters.
- In the UK, over a quarter of girls say they have been put off a career in tech as it is too male-dominated and only 22% can name a famous female working in tech.
When we get to the job market, the gender gap continues, being bigger in Cloud and IT engineering profiles, with only 12% and 15% of women respectively.
At Santander, we are very proud to have been recognized as the 1st bank and 2nd company out of all the companies analyzed in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index 2023.
We have a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plan that includes various programs to promote equality among employees in all countries. We are also part of the gender equality program developed in the United Nations Global Compact.
Santander Digital Services is a Santander company, based in Madrid with more than 7,000 employees. We are working to move Santander towards a Digital Bank with branches.
Take a look at the job opportunities to work in tech here and Be Tech! with Santander 🚀
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