The “Women in Telecommunications and Research (WiTaR)” Working Group was founded in 2023, but the initiative stemmed from the H2020 project Hexa-X, in which a group “Women in Hexa-X” was created in 2020. This group gathered participants from the Hexa-X project interested in promoting diversity in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) area, and in particular in the ecosystem of collaborative actions in Europe.
The name of the group changed to WiTaR in 2022, to extend beyond the Hexa-X project and gather participants from SNS-JU projects, such as 6G-REFERENCE. The Working Group has been progressively growing (112 participants in the WG at the time of publication) and extending its reach, organizing special sessions in events.
WiTaR Working Group Objectives
The objectives of the Women in Telecommunications and Research Working Group are to:
- Become a “reference” point in the SNS Programme and develop awareness across the overall SNS Members/Community to ensure a gender-balanced approach in European R&I activities.
- Promote visibility of women and their achievements and encourage them to engage in leadership positions.
- Support role models for both soft and hard skills of junior researchers and students to contribute to 6G-IA and SNS actions related to ICT Skills, ensuring that ICT missing Skills in EU also systematically address missing ICT Women Skills.
- Contribute to engage more women in 6G research in particular sustainability and societal work, including panels, interviews… contributing to the definition of 6G use-cases ensuring the minimization of bias and enriching the set of identified use-cases.
- Interact with SNS and 6G-IA members, analyzing potential gender reported issues and contributing to solving the issues.
For that, over the past year, the WiTaR Working Group has organized inspiring events to amplify diverse voices in technology; conducted various surveys to identify the most important issues in the community; launched their website and public LinkedIn page to be in touch with members and highlight their activities more closely, and generated awareness by having their members give several interviews and participate in podcasts to highlight the importance of women’s presence in the ICT sector.
About the WiTaR 2024 Activity Report
This report gives a snapshot of WiTaR WG activities in year 2024, with a particular focus on promoting the participation and advancement of women in telecommunications. Despite significant technological progress, the ICT industry continues to face gender disparity, with women underrepresented at all levels, from technical roles to leadership positions.
Women comprise less than 30% of the global ICT workforce, with even lower percentages in technical and leadership roles. This imbalance limits the diversity of perspectives essential for driving innovation and making informed decisions. Key barriers contributing to this disparity include societal stereotypes, limited access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, insufficient mentoring opportunities, and workplace biases, all of which hinder entry and retention for women in the field.
The underrepresentation of women not only impacts social equity but also diminishes the economic and innovation potential of the sector. Research highlights that gender-diverse teams enhance business performance and foster creativity. Addressing this challenge requires a multifaceted approach, including fostering inclusive workplace cultures, implementing gender-sensitive recruitment and retention strategies, expanding access to STEM education for girls, and creating mentorship and leadership development opportunities.
By closing the gender gap, the ICT sector can unlock significant economic benefits and position itself as a leader in equitable innovation. This report reflects on the effort made by the Women in Telecommunication and Research (WiTaR) 6G-IA working group over the past year to take a step in closing the gender gap in ICT.
This report was originally published in the 6G-IA website.