HerNovation: Why Women in IT Need Sponsors

Conversations on women getting into the tech corporate world has bore fruits in the recent past. The current headache is getting more women in corporate leadership and tech leadership.

Too few women are reaching the top of their organization despite making it to the industry. It seems as if the top positions in these organizations are being scooped up by men. The big reason why women are not getting the high-stake assignments in their respective firms is lack of sponsorship.

Often, women lack powerful sponsors who demand and ensure that they get these stepping-stone jobs. Ensuring that women get the sponsorship they need to move up has proved elusive for most organizations. Most companies have halted formal sponsorship programs, citing pushback from executives who feel they are being asked to advocate for people they don’t know well or don’t think they are ready.

However, this is not a reason to give up on sponsorship; it is an opportunity to reinvent how we approach the whole topic. Sponsorship is rarely something you simply turn on and off. Rather, it is a relationship, one that has evolved from lesser to greater trust and public commitment.

Speaking during the second edition of HerNovation, Everline Kamau Migwi from VMware talked about why women in tech and IT need sponsors to help them make career steps.

“To make significant steps, you need sponsors. You need those powerful executives who throw you in the deep end and give you the opportunities you need to make career steps. If you attract the right sponsor, you will be helped to make career steps,” she noted in her presentation.

Having an executive-level sponsor can be make or break for a high-potential woman’s career, particularly when it comes to getting important roles that are stepping-stones to the top.

In order for these kinds of relationships to flourish, both executives and their organizations must be clear about what sponsorship is and what sponsorship is and what steps they might take in order to ensure women have the full-bloom sponsorship they need.