Pythian Joins Battle Against 'Bro Culture' in Tech, Proposes New Glass Ceiling Metric

Pythian announces gender stats and launches its Pythia Program, an initiative to improve gender diversity

OTTAWA, Nov. 18, 2015 /CNW/ - Pythian, a 400-person global IT services company today announced its new Pythia Program and revealed its gender statistics along with a new glass ceiling metric called the Pythia Index. Under the Pythia Program, Pythian will actively pursue diversification of its talent base with a specific focus on recruiting women who are making a difference in the IT industry, a segment that cuts across every talent group.

Inspired by Microsoft, Twitter, and Google, Pythian is the first technology company headquartered in Canada to announce its gender stats: 24 percent of Pythian employees are women, 35 percent of the company's executive leadership team are women, 27 percent of managers are women, and only 9 percent of technical roles at Pythian are held by women.

In male-dominated classical Greece, the most powerful and influential independent voice belonged to a woman: the Pythia, also known as the Delphic Oracle. Inspired by her, the Pythia Index measures the proportion of people in a business, or in a team, who are women leaders or report to a woman leader. Pythian currently has a Pythia Index of 56 percent, which means 56 percent of employees are women leaders or report to a woman at some level in the org chart; 44 percent of Pythian employees, however, do not have a woman leader in their reporting structure.

Dissatisfied with these statistics and the rise in the so-called "bro culture," which is becoming more pervasive in the high-tech industry, Pythian is actively seeking to increase the percentage of women in its workforce and proposes that all technology companies should measure and report their Pythia Index.

"'Bro Culture' in tech is problematic and garnering headlines worldwide. At Pythian, we know that well-blended teams outperform homogeneous teams. By taking sides in this battle and strengthening our deliberate talent blending practices, we intend to attract the right employees and to encourage others to set similar diversity goals," says Paul Vallée, Pythian CEO. "This is not a corporate social responsibility initiative. It is good business. And it's how we intend to build the future we want for the technology sector."

Pythian's VP of Human Resources Heidi Hauver confirms that the program will involve a comprehensive review of the company's talent management practices for unconscious biases and the removal of any barriers that may exist. "Talent is our business," states Hauver. "We want to attract, retain and engage the world's top women. By leading by example, we can champion change and become a part of a very important conversation in the IT ecosystem."

Pythian has partnered with Women in Communications and Technology (WCT), a national organization promoting women in the digital economy, and the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), a not-for-profit national center of expertise for the digital economy. These organisations will work with Pythian to cross-promote talent initiatives like the Pythia Program and will undertake other joint programs to encourage and support more women in their technology careers.

"We're excited to be partnering with Pythian on diversity and inclusion-focused talent initiatives," says Sandra Saric, ICTC's VP of Talent Innovation. "Diversification is no longer a 'nice-to-have' in the workplace, and Pythian is blazing a path we hope others will follow."

More information on the Pythia Program is available here.

About Pythian
Founded in 1997, Pythian (www.pythian.com) is a 400-person global IT services company that helps companies compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as cloud, big data, advanced analytics, and DevOps to advance innovation and increase agility. Specializing in designing, implementing, and managing systems that directly contribute to revenue growth and business success, Pythian's highly skilled technical teams work as an integrated extension of our clients' organisations to deliver continuous transformation and uninterrupted operational excellence.

SOURCE Women in Communications and Technology (WCT)

For further information: Media Contact: Lynda Partner, [e-mail], 613-794-8474