IT Management Slideshow:
How to Recruit Female Tech Talent

CIOs and other managers know the heat is on to succeed internationally, given the huge growth in global markets. Talent acquisition is part of the picture here. But organizations need to do a better job of specifically targeting women overseas. While not specific to the tech sector, the book “Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women are the Solution” (Harvard Business Review Press/available now) has a lot of guidance to offer IT leaders as they consider the gender balance in their own organizations. In addition, while the book focuses on markets outside the U.S., many of the practices outlined here can be easily applied to the American workforce. The book’s authors, Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid, contend that professional women in markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Middle East boast better credentials, higher ambitions and greater loyalty than their male peers. They highlight the 10 tactics being used by high-profile, international companies that are improving the gender-balance equation – within the rank-and-file and executive levels. The key: addressing work-life and understanding the professional challenges that are unique to women. Hewlett is an economist and chair of the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force — a group of 65 global companies and organizations committed to developing talent across the divides of gender, generation, and culture. Rashid is executive vice president of the Center for Work-Life Policy and has served as a management consultant in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.