This New Career Pathing Program Helps Women in Tech
By Chic Geek
Committed to improving diversity for women in STEM and technology roles, Canadian technology group, Chic Geek, launch their new Career Pathing program to support and provide women with a network of industry connections and mentorship opportunities.
With the growth of technology vastly re-shaping the world, Chic Geek aims to utilize the ever-expanding career opportunities for skilled technology workers by matching them with companies and individuals already established in the industry. Career Path Finders (those looking for mentorships) and Career Guides (mentors in technology eager to give back) are encouraged to join.
Targeted at women in tech, connections share invaluable information, experience, and support that can be used to advance careers or as a launchpad to move over to technology from another sector. It’s a proactive solution that also helps diversify and seed our future technology sector and economy with skilled employees.
How Career Pathing Works
Are you a woman working in technology or STEM?
Chic Geek research shows that over the last ten years, women only hold 25% of computing roles, are consistently underrepresented in technology, and are 2x more likely to quit the industry than men.
“One of the key issues driving these statistics is the lack of career visibility for women. It’s this uncertainty within the industry that has become an unmovable barrier for women when looking to advance or even continue in their profession,” says Chic Geek’s Hanan Chebib, Career Pathing program specialist. “Women are dedicated to their careers, passionate about making an impact in their work. The number one reason women are leaving is because they can’t see a path to advancement.”
Chic Geek’s goal is to improve diversity in technology by providing women with this innovative approach to mentoring with Career Pathing.
Available to individuals, and through company partnership models, participants will have the opportunity to talk to 12 different women in tech over 12 months.
Real People, Not Just Statistics
Chic Geek’s Career Pathing is part of a solution for women’s economic recovery and seeding the technology and start-up/scaleup sector with qualified and skilled individuals. Career Pathing’s beta year (2021) was proudly funded by The Province of Alberta in working partnership with the Government of Canada.
According to Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation, for the Government of Alberta, Alberta’s tech sector is seeing huge growth and creating thousands of jobs.
“The mentorship and networking provided by Chic Geek through their Career Pathing program is crucial to ensuring the success of women in these tech jobs,” Schweitzer says.
Building upon this success, Chic Geek’s new membership model is driving Career Pathing towards a sustainable operating model through private and public sponsorship and its partnerships with the region’s most vibrant technology companies.
It’s a program built for all women in the North American technology sector.
The Results
Career Pathing has already made over 500 connections between senior and mid-career level women in technology in just the last six months, with 59% of women who took part in the program reporting that they were able to accomplish their goals.
With these results, it’s no wonder that companies such as Helcim, a Calgary-founded fintech, have partnered with Chic Geek to provide their teams with opportunities to mentor women in the sector and share their expertise.
“We’ve been partnering with Chic Geek since day one of the Career Pathing program and love it! It’s great to have meaningful conversations with women every month who are passionate about a career in tech,” says Cheryl Hooper, Manager of People & Culture, Helcim.
“This is an amazing way to shift the landscape of tech by sharing our career stories and providing helpful advice to advance women’s careers. In order to have an impact on creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, meaningful actions are needed to support women achieving their goals.”
