Equals’ ‘Role Model’ campaign is back with a larger footprint: All you need to know

In an period the place illustration and variety are extremely valued, Amsterdam-based Equals, a agency that focuses on empowering and supporting ladies’s profession progress, is making important strides within the Dutch tech sector. 

Forward of Worldwide Ladies’s Day, Equals has launched the ‘Function Mannequin Marketing campaign 2024,’ aiming to foster a extra inclusive tech setting and encourage future generations of ladies to interrupt into the business.

With the tagline “It Takes One to Grow to be One,” this 12 months’s marketing campaign goals to focus on the potential of each girl to be a job mannequin, regardless of age, race, sexuality, or (dis)skill, emphasising the significance of various illustration in inspiring future generations. 

It Takes One to Grow to be One

Since its inception, the 2024 marketing campaign has broadened its horizons, that includes extra position fashions (over 150) than ever earlier than and reaching a wider viewers. 

It has grown from being simply an Amsterdam-based marketing campaign to a nationwide one, with posters showcased on pillars and bus stations all through Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, and Almere. 

“Once you see what different ladies have achieved, you might be woke up. Then it additionally turns into an choice for you. You may change into what you possibly can see,” says Dieuwke van Buren, Managing Director at Equals.

Equals says the assist of governmental organisations has elevated considerably, signalling a willingness for daring steps to be taken to enhance gender stability within the office.

A month-long marketing campaign, scheduled for a March 8 launch, will host a collection of occasions, workshops, and networking alternatives designed to attach, empower, and have fun ladies in tech and management.

Van Buren provides, “In 2022, we began in Amsterdam, the place 88 position fashions and 60 corporations joined us. Now, in 2024, we now have expanded our attain to 5 cities: Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Almere, with 186 position fashions and 125 corporations becoming a member of us.” 

“At Equals, we dream of a society the place companies and groups are consultant of the society,” Van Buren states. “The extra women and girls see our position fashions, the higher the affect. That’s what we try for.”

Decline in ladies working within the tech

The Dutch Range and Inclusion in Digital Benchmark has reported a lower within the share of ladies working within the tech business within the Netherlands from 21 per cent to 19 per cent up to now 12 months. Moreover, solely 13 per cent of ladies maintain management positions within the tech sector. 

“By means of the ability of Equals’ collective marketing campaign, we encourage, empower, and pave the best way for a future the place equality is not only a purpose, however a actuality,” says Dieuwke van Buren, Managing Director at Equals. 

“It takes one to change into one, — and collectively, we redefine the narrative for ladies in tech, management, and entrepreneurship, making a extra inclusive and equitable world for generations to come back. Within the build-up to and through Worldwide Ladies’s Day this marketing campaign shines a highlight on the trailblazing ladies who’ve navigated uncharted territories, conquered obstacles, and ascended to those roles, she continues,” provides van Buren. 

In response to one other report, “State of Dutch Tech 2024,” by Techleap.nl, ladies in tech accounted for less than 19 per cent of the workforce final 12 months, which is 3 per cent under the European common.

The illustration of ladies in senior technical positions within the IT business has been caught at 13 per cent. 

The State of Dutch Tech 2024 convention, which happened on March 6 in The Hague, highlighted the shortage of consideration to variety and inclusion within the sector. 

In response to a survey performed in the course of the convention, 65 per cent of the staff surveyed acknowledged that their employers don’t spend money on variety and inclusion. 

As well as, feminine workers within the tech business are paid a median of twenty-two per cent lower than their male counterparts.

Partnership with RightBrains

Moreover, Equals is collaborating with RightBrains, a platform and ladies’s tech neighborhood devoted to bridging the gender hole in digital know-how. 

Geke Rosier, founding father of RightBrains, says, “At RightBrains, we’re dedicated to making a extra inclusive and various tech business by offering ladies with the assist and assets they should succeed. “Our crew is thrilled to be featured within the Equals marketing campaign, and we hope to have a collective affect on ladies’s careers.

Equals: What you should know

Equals is dedicated to supporting ladies within the progress and growth of their careers. 

By means of collaboration, celebration, and advocacy, Equals empowers all. Equals’ pragmatic strategy rests on three pillars:

• Publicity/campaigns/occasions: Highlighting inspiring ladies to vary perceptions.
• Academy: Providing (free) training (with a job assure) and profession pathways in tech and entrepreneurship.
•  Memberclub: Fostering a neighborhood of bold ladies for connection, progress, and empowerment within the coronary heart of Amsterdam.