Prestigious grant from the Israel Innovation Authority will advance women to mid-management position

Prestigious grant from the Israel Innovation Authority will advance women to mid-management positions in business and high-tech

The Israeli high-tech industry stands at the forefront of Israeli innovation and breaks records in its achievements every year. However, when it comes to gender equality, a notable gap exists.

Women represent only one-third of the employees in the sector, and this stagnating proportion has changed only slightly in recent years, with no significant increase to be seen.
In the Israeli workplace, women constitute a professional minority at almost all managerial levels. If you examine their rise through senior ranks and look at the percentage of female founders of startups or partners in venture capital funds, the dearth of women is obvious.

 In recent years, the rate of female enrollment for degrees in high-tech professions has been encouraging, particularly in fields like computer science  Ironically, as the cadre of highly trained female professionals grows, the opportunities for integration and advancementis woefully behind. The need to reduce this yawning gender gap at all professional levels requires immediate action.

HIT has taken up this challenge through the Next Level Program, which recently received a grant of NIS 750,000 from the Israel Innovation Authority. It focuses on accelerating and increasing women’s advancement at the mid-management level by removing the obstacles which have stymied their progress.

 The program represents the fruitful collaboration between several entities from HIT: the Gender Equality Unit headed by Adv. Orna Koplovich, the School of Certificate Studies headed by Dr. Israel Ohanov, and the FUTURE Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center headed by CPA Tali Malach Banaim.

Two key technological middle-management positions will be the focus of the Next Level program: product management and project management The training is structured in two parallel tracks to maximize the number of students in each cycle and enable a significant number of placements in the industry each year. The "High-Tech Project Management" course and the "High-Tech Product Management" course were especially designed to meet market needs and this target audience.
 

The diversity and inclusion of different populations, currently underrepresented in the industry, are an overall pre-requisite for economic growth, especially in high-tech. The Next Level program will bridge the professional and behavioral/social gaps, which constitute a barrier for women, thereby significantly increasing the chances of their successful integration, capacity to flourish, and advancement in the industry. 

It will also improve business, managerial, and technological skills of participants and will help facilitate the promotion of women to managerial positions from among those already employed in the sector, as well as the integration of women from outside the high-tech industry who have previous relevant experience.

 Tali Malach Banaiim: "As a leading entrepreneurship center, we decided to launch a dedicated program that will provide the target audience with a toolbox and working methods from the world of entrepreneurship and startups, based on the concept that to stand out and lead in any organization, one must have an entrepreneurial and pioneering mindset. This grant will allow us to build a dedicated, innovative program adapted to the female target audience."

Adv. Orna Koplovich: "The Next Level program joins the other unique leadership programs for women that we have already developed at HIT, providing an accurate response to a real need, which we know well. I thank the Israel Innovation Authority for this important grant, especially during these challenging times.”