Will the new CEO of Twitter spark change within the tech industry?

Elon Musk has officially stepped down as the chief executive of Twitter and, in his place, appointed Linda Yaccarino. Will this change set a precedent for female leadership in the tech industry?

As recently discussed by HR Leader, women face unfair disadvantages in the tech industry due to misconceptions, engrained social attitudes, bias, and a lack of role models.

So, will Twitter’s new appointment help spark change and create a more inclusive environment for women in tech? Kind of, said Dr Foula Kopanidis, RMIT University’s associate professor at the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing.

“With the appointment of Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s new CEO, the question on everyone’s lips is whether Elon Musk’s motivation was to achieve greater gender diversity in a predominately male industry or merely to free up his time for ‘other things’?”

Dr Kopanidis continued: “Statistics and prevailing gender discrepancies in relation to the leadership positions women hold and their opportunities for positive impact on the direction and success of companies suggest the latter. Musk’s motivations are transparent. It’s about him and his other pursuits and financial interests.”

According to Dr Kopanidis, just 41 of the Fortune 500 companies have women as CEOs. In Australia, women account for 47.4 per cent of the workforce, yet hold just 14.6 per cent of chair positions, 28.1 per cent of executive director roles, 18.3 per cent of CEOs, and 32.5 per cent of management positions.

The tech industry sees similar biases, with women making up 29 per cent of ICT workers, despite making up over half of tertiary graduates.

“Progress towards addressing inequality and holding organisations accountable by setting measurable objectives for progress continues to lag. There needs to be more than just a push for organisations to become more accountable by setting targets to meet their gender equality targets,” said Dr Kopanidis.

“Addressing greater gender diversity requires that organisations do more to have representation of women in the workforce across leadership roles.”

Dr Kopanidis believes that organisations need to move beyond tokenistic gestures and begin to address real inequity issues, such as “implicit biases, barriers to entry, lack of recognition of contribution, addressing the gender pay gap and finding opportunities for retention and advancement”.

While Dr Kopanidis may be sceptical of Mr Musk’s motivations, Australia has witnessed a surge in women taking up leadership positions that are helping to boost inclusivity.

She continued: “There are breakthroughs. Coles recently announced it had appointed Leah Weckert as the first female CEO in its 109-year history, joining four other women — Blackmores chairman Anne Templeman-Jones; CSL and Wesfarmers director Alison Watkins; CSL and Rio Tinto director Megan Clark; and Telstra, Origin, Brambles and Westpac director Nora Scheinkestel in serving as role models and inspiration for other women aspiring to do the same.”

“As one of the few women appointed as an executive to reach the top of a major technology company, Linda Yaccarino is in a favourable position to not only inspire and highlight impact in her role, but to prompt a conversation on the prevailing social attitudes, norms and negative stereotypes that often stifle and deter other women from pursuing and flourishing in their desired career paths.”