Networking vendor Ericsson recently celebrated “Girls in ICT” day throughout the region by demonstrating the benefits of a career in ICT to young women at a number of universities.
The plan is part of Ericsson’s broader initiative that aims to embrace gender diversity by reflecting 30% female inclusion across its entire workforce by 2020.
The Girls in ICT presentations were given by the women of Ericsson and underlined the importance of diversity in the ICT industry, offering insights on the different jobs within this sector, Ericsson’s short and long term vision in the ICT industry, and the fast evolution to the networked society.
According to the vendor the main aim was to demonstrate that within ICT, there is no single leading role or function where the best-performing employees are evaluated based on gender, but that always the best person for the job prospers.
Rafiah Ibrahim, president, Ericsson Middle East and East Africa, said: “Ericsson believes in diversity across all aspects of our organisation. By promoting gender inclusion in ICT we are, not only, improving our business trajectory, but also fostering a positive corporate environment to all our employees. We want to show young women that ICT is a skill-based industry suited to the most skilled employees, in which women can have very prosperous careers.”
In 2014 Ericsson RMEA launched a regional Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) council which follows up periodically on the execution on this set strategy.
