30572_Kao Data Critical Careers_Pages - Flipbook - Page 39
Where is the role of women
heading within the industry?
I
see the role of women in the industry growing
signi昀椀cantly—there’s no other way forward. We’re in
such a high-growth phase that increasing diversity
isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential; we literally won’t
have enough people otherwise. Like how we’re driving
the green transition, we need to pull our diversity efforts
along with us. We’re 昀椀shing in only half the pond if
we’re not fully inclusive, and that’s not enough to meet
our needs.
It’s also important to think about how we can improve
the way we communicate what the industry is all about.
Each company in our sector needs to lean in and help
with that. Plus, we’ve got to do a better job explaining
the variety of job roles that exist, because there’s still a
lot of confusion there. People often think it’s all about
engineering, but that’s not the case. We have a broad
spectrum of roles, and understanding that is key.
We also need more initiatives that integrate into
curriculums globally, making the data centre industry as
familiar to people as the auto industry is. After all, data
centres are a critical part of daily life—arguably more so
than cars, considering our reliance on digital services.
So, it’s about normalising this industry in education to
help grow and diversify our workforce effectively.
39
The combination of a
high-growth environment
and a community that
actively champions
diversity sees women
represented at every level
of digital infrastructure.
