Lenovo: creating pathways for gender equity

This article was written for our sponsor, Lenovo

Each year, March is designated as Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the contributions that women have made throughout history. The 2023 Women’s History Month Theme is, "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories." While this year’s theme relates specifically to women who are active in all forms of media, the annual overarching goal is to present an opportunity to examine where we are, as a country, in gender equity. The goal is to ensure that steps are continually being taken to move us forward together.

Despite comprising half the workforce in the United States economy, women are underrepresented in management, holding only 32% of senior leadership positions, according to the most recent Women in Business report. Additionally, just over 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women, with less than 1% of that metric being women of color. The same story can be found across industries, including in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The good news is that those numbers are higher than in past years. And though significant strides have been made, it takes proactive, persistent and thoughtful action to continue to move the needle. Companies determined to push the status quo have contributed to the progress. For example, tech industry giant Lenovo has a global workforce that is 36% female, and its executive board is making the success and promotion of women a priority.

Employee resource group and mentorship

In 2021, Lenovo created a mentoring academy through its employee resource group (ERG), Women in Lenovo Leadership — WILL. WILL is the company’s largest ERG with chapters all around the world that bring women together to develop their talents and provide a supportive space for women in technology.

While the three main focus areas of WILL are career advocacy, employee experience and community outreach, the ERG works closely with all aspects of the company, from the internal patent office to leadership. The leadership of WILL actively seeks suggestions for continued ways to innovate and help connect women.

The mentoring academy, which has now paired over 200 mentors and mentees across North America in its first year, was one of those suggestions. The Academy is the brainchild of Lenovo employee Sandra Clarke, Senior Portfolio Enablement Manager for Device as a Service, and was created to formalize networking opportunities for women.

"During the height of the pandemic, when we were all at home, I noticed a lack of connection and networking opportunities within Lenovo," Clarke said. "I reached out to the WILL Board, with an idea of starting a mentoring program that would connect women with leaders across the company. We worked together to launch the WILL Mentoring Academy in January 2021."

The six-month academy encourages networking and helps develop the next generation of Lenovo leaders. The first part of the two-quarter academy invites participants to meet in "speed dating" type atmospheres and small group sessions, where current Lenovo leaders talk about various topics, including:

• Making your voice heard.
• Negotiating salary and promotions.
• Communicating in a male-dominated environment.

During the second quarter, mentees are paired 1:1 with mentors and dive deep into their career paths and personal growth.

Participants have given the WILL Mentoring Academy glowing reviews, with 100% saying they would recommend the experience to a colleague. Graduates have gone on to receive promotions and become mentors in the program themselves.

Promotion and leadership

Lenovo’s commitment to women’s success has already resulted in improved representation at the executive level. The company exceeded its 2020 goal of 20% female executive representation but it’s not done yet. Lenovo announced a new target to reach 27% female executives by fiscal year 2026.

One key to Lenovo’s success in this endeavor has been the Women’s Leadership Development Program (WLDP), which accelerates the development of high-potential women toward eligibility for executive-level careers.

"Founded in 2014, well before Lenovo publicly announced its first gender representational goal, the WLDP serves as a global corporate initiative for building a pipeline of global women executives," according to Margaret George, Global Diversity & Inclusion Business Partner. "Partnering with Linkage Inc., annual cohorts of 20 high-potential women Directors undergo a 10-month development series designed to enhance critical skills, amplify visibility to senior leadership, and overcome hurdles commonly faced by professional women."

The program’s seventh cohort of leaders graduated a day before International Women’s Day after completing a virtual curriculum of 360 assessments, professional coaching sessions, a digital academy and executives presence & presentation workshops during 2022-2023.

Closing the gender gap through outreach

In addition to ensuring that there is equity-minded focus within the company, Lenovo is working on other strategies for improving long-term inclusion and retention of women in STEM fields. This includes a push to hire more women by improving access to information and increasing opportunities to apply for STEM careers.

In 2021, Lenovo completed its 15th year of global sponsorship for the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society. This international platform highlights women’s voices and visions to help create a more inclusive future for all.

Locally, Lenovo is sponsoring an initiative that encourages middle and high school students to consider careers in technology. Girls Belong in Tech (GBIT) is a Lenovo initiative which helps address the current gender gap in the technology workforce.

In February, 2023, as part of this initiative, the Lenovo headquarters in Morrisville opened its doors to 200 students from across North Carolina for the first Girls Belong in Tech day. Lenovo partnered with the National Academies Foundation (NAF) to create this unique experience which welcomed female high school students and gave them a behind-the-scenes look at working in a tech company.

Libby Richards, Community Engagement Manager for Lenovo, said, "The goal of [the] event was to inspire more young women to consider careers in technology for their future."

In addition to games, speakers, workshops and hands-on learning with computer components, the day allowed for students to interact with Lenovo staff, especially female leaders of the company. Allowing students to see successful women with careers in technology allows for them to visualize that path for themselves.

"It was really fantastic, at the end of the day, to hear some of the students talk about how they might not have considered a career in technology in the past, but having the opportunity to see someone who looks like them in a role that is really high-tech inspired them," said Richards.

While the goal for representation and equity is omnipresent in Lenovo’s focus on outreach, they also understand that sometimes the obstacles are bigger than just not being exposed to STEM. Lenovo also sponsors and partners with Dress for Success, a nonprofit with the mission to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing support, professional attire and developmental tools. Whether or not the women within the Dress for Success network are geared toward STEM, Lenovo partners with the organization to conduct mock interviews and provide much-needed funding.

Throughout the world and within the Triangle, Lenovo is taking daily steps — well beyond the month of March — to help ensure that women are lifted up, their stories are heard and their success is unimpeded.

This article was written for our sponsor, Lenovo