{"id":42645,"date":"2023-10-20T15:22:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/how-atlassian-is-tackling-its-diversity-problem-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:22:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:22:43","slug":"how-atlassian-is-tackling-its-diversity-problem-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/how-atlassian-is-tackling-its-diversity-problem-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"How Atlassian is tackling its diversity problem – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Atlassian<\/div>\n

One of Australia\u2019s biggest startup success stories Atlassian has released its own internal diversity figures for the first time and pledged to do better in the coming years.<\/p>\n

The statistics show that women only make up 25% of the workplace collaboration software company\u2019s global workforce, a 2% increase from this time last year.<\/p>\n

Women make up 14% of Atlassian\u2019s technical team and 24% of its leadership positions.<\/p>\n

The figures show that 29% of Atlassian\u2019s global hires for the last 12 months were women.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The startup giant is working to improve these figures, Atlassian global head of diversity and inclusion Aubrey Blanche says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not where we want to be,\u201d Blanche tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making progress but we want to do more this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity is a part of what Atlassian is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many other large tech companies have released their own diversity reports in recent months and Atlassian\u2019s numbers are generally below these figures.<\/p>\n

According to Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter\u2019s internal reports, women make up just above 30% of the tech giants’ workforces, while Pinterest and LinkedIn have 42% female employees.<\/p>\n

In Australia, Melbourne startup Envato says that 28% of its leadership positions are held by women.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo bullshit\u201d<\/h3>\n

Blanche says that making these figures public falls in line with one of Atlassian\u2019s four core values.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first value is \u2018open company, no bullshit\u2019,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always been big on transparency. We can\u2019t reach our full potential or help our users if we\u2019re not doing it in public. We\u2019re showing what we\u2019re doing and what we did that didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur successes and challenges are shared publicly and younger tech companies can learn from us and invest in this earlier in their company\u2019s lifecycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report also includes other areas of diversity in Atlassian\u2019s internal makeup. Of its total employees, nearly half are aged between 30 and 39 and only 2% are older than 50.<\/p>\n

A huge majority of the startup\u2019s team \u2013 73% – are white and 35% are located in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Of the global workforce, 11% identify as being LGBTI*.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A focus on teams<\/h3>\n

Atlassian is placing a strong emphasis on diversity within teams, publishing reports detailing the breakdown of demographics within each of its branches.<\/p>\n

This is a better measure than the more general corporate figures, Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvaluating diversity at the corporate level is a good first step but it doesn\u2019t paint a clear enough picture,\u201d Cannon-Brookes says.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue genius happens when people with different experiences come together to tackle tough challenges. That\u2019s why teams \u2013 not just companies \u2013 need to be diverse and inclusive for the most meaningful business impact to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of Atlassian\u2019s \u201cteams\u201d, 71% have at least one woman, and this number drops to 66% when looking at software development teams.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Tackling this issue from a team point of view makes sense for a company like Atlassian, Blanche says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no other way to approach this issue other than to think about it at a team level,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther companies have already released reports but we\u2019re the first company to look at the team level and share that publicly. As a company we\u2019ve always been dedicated to releasing the potential in every team and it has become clear that diversity is a critical component for reaching that potential.<\/p>\n

The path ahead<\/h3>\n

Blanche says Atlassian is implementing a number of new programs and partnering with external organisations to improve its internal diversity, including unconscious bias training across the entire company, changes to how candidates are evaluated and teaming up with Tech Inclusion and Galvanize.<\/p>\n

The startup will be using the \u2018n-Space\u2019 approach, which \u201crecognises and supports the complexity of the company\u2019s changing global workforce by viewing diversity as an ever-evolving field\u201d.<\/p>\n

Blanche joined Atlassian nine months ago and says she\u2019s already seen the culture and inclusion of the company improve in that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made a lot of progress,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I\u2019m most proud of is as a culture we\u2019re talking about diversity now, and we\u2019re focusing on providing scientifically grounded evidence for why we haven\u2019t achieved this and what the blockers are, as well as how everyone can chip in.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says there are goals in place for the next year, including reaching market parity for gender in its hiring across its global offices and raising the overall company\u2019s diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making sure that we\u2019re moving forward,\u201d Blanche says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ultimate goal is to make sure our workforce reflects the demographics in the community it\u2019s in.\u201d<\/p>\n

This includes putting the women already working at Atlassian on show, through campaigns such as \u2018the Women of Atlassian\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to close the imagination gap and highlight the amazing women already here at Atlassian so girls in school and women at uni can see that there are already people like them here,\u201d Blanche says.<\/p>\n

Addressing the widespread issue<\/h3>\n

Blanche calls on other large tech companies and the startup community in general to be transparent about diversity and work together to improve the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely crucial,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we magically solved this problem tomorrow there would still be a severe lack of opportunities in other companies. We\u2019re partners with other tech companies \u2013 we succeed when they succeed and we all have the same goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all try different things and we\u2019re heartened by the information sharing and collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is especially important in Australia, Blanche says, where the startup ecosystem is only now starting to come into its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Australia we have an opportunity to change the way we do this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tech industry is young and we have a chance to do it right at the beginning. We can work together and make the tech industry the meritocracy we want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

With technology advancing rapidly, now is the time to work to close the gender gap in startups, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future every company is going to become a software company,\u201d Blanche says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf women and under-represented groups don\u2019t have an equal and important say in building that technology then as a world business we won\u2019t be able to reach our full potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will mean leaving innovation and dollars on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> <\/em>Facebook,<\/em> <\/em>Twitter,<\/em> <\/em>LinkedIn<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>Soundcloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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