Partner Pledge: Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and equality are value based for Delegate and something we must work on daily. In 2023 Delegate has started the work with DS 5001 – the Danish standard for Diversity and Equality. This year, we focus on getting more women in IT. We have created a series of portraits of women in Delegate who will act as role models for other women considering working in the IT industry.

Despite progress, women are still significantly underrepresented in Danish IT companies and IT educations, and without an active effort to get even more women into the industry, we will face a shortage of skilled workers in the future - more than we already do today. We also see this in Delegate, where only 19 percent of the consultants are women. That needs to change, and we are painfully aware of it.

From 2019 to 2022, the number of women enrolled in Danish IT education programs has increased by 13 percent, and in 2022, women make up 32 percent of those enrolled in the Danish IT education programs. Here, development is therefore going in the right direction, even if it is still going slow.

It looks different when we look at the number of female consultants. In the consulting industry in general, only 13.5 percent of the top leaders are women, while 36 percent of consultants are women. Furthermore, women leave the consulting industry more quickly.

There is a widespread misconception that the title of (IT) consultant can not be combined with family life – a perception that scares many women away before they even get the opportunity to learn more about the industry. The IT industry also has a reputation for having a distinctly male-dominated environment. While women are outnumbered, the image of a group of geeky nerds sitting in a dark basement coding could not be further from the truth. IT plays a critical role in the development of our society, and the tasks involve much more than just hardcore coding. Therefore, we need a broad range of skills and diversity among our employees.

At Delegate, we make a significant effort to create a working environment that provides the opportunity to balance work and family life. In fact, we don't refer to it as work-life balance, but rather life balance because all aspects of life should be in harmony. For example, we offer full flexibility to plan your day, so you can pick up your children early and work on your computer in the evening. We also offer the opportunity to work from anywhere.

However, the numbers speak for themselves, and at Delegate we have a lot of work to do to tell a different story to women in the IT industry than the one about endless overtime and lack of flexibility.

With our portraits of female Delegaters, we hope to inspire women to pursue a career in IT here.