The women to see, progress within the technology department of a company can be seen as trying to suppress the stereotype

While more women working in tech make their way into the C-suite, women’s career woes are far from solved in 2021—and most face roadblocks long before they near a corner office. After years of research, it has found that most women working in tech are derailed in their first few years in the workforce: when their first promotion is delayed or never happens, it sets the course for their entire career trajectory. This broken rung, as calls it, is the biggest factor for continued workplace inequality.

For women working in tech just beginning their careers, the lack of progress made toward equality is discouraging. But some companies are leading the charge to fix that “broken rung” and ensure women in their workplace are set up for career growth from the very beginning. For young women looking to start their careers with an employer that’s invested in their success, these companies are great to get familiar or start working with: –

1. Abbott: Since its inception in the late 1800s, Abbott has always had women leaders—so it’s not surprising that the medical supply company is still a leading workplace for women today. Many of Abbott’s women senior and executive employees began their careers at the company and rose through the ranks, benefiting from the company’s structured year-long mentorship program and its commitment to supporting women working in tech, particularly mothers, in achieving maximum potential at work.

2. Aramark: Aramark has made huge strides in recent years to be more inclusive and supportive of women. It was recently named a 2020 Winning “W” Company for having a corporate board made up of 30 percent women—five years ago, they were at 0 percent. Of the progress, it has been said that the progress they had made so far, and remain committed to accelerating representation of and opportunities for women at all levels across their companies. It is a business resource network for women employees.

3. Avanade: Avanade is a global professional services company providing IT consulting and services. The leader in innovative digital and cloud services is dedicated to investing in the future of women in tech, even earning the title of 2020 Employer of the Year from the Women in IT Awards. One way they do so is through their STEM Scholarship for young women, which helps fund recipients’ education and offers internships, mentoring, and a strong support network.

4. Bank of America: Another 2019 Catalyst Award winner, Bank of America takes investing in women literally via its initiative by the same name. The company rebuilt its practices from the ground up, starting with mandatory diverse hiring guidelines to recruit a wider range of job candidates and continuing with regular conversations and employee surveys to make sure careers are on track. The results speak for themselves: from 2015 to 2018, women’s representation rose significantly in mid- and senior-level leadership positions.

5. Bumble: Unsurprisingly, a woman-founded company whose mission states “We promote accountability, equality, and kindness in an effort to end misogyny and re-write archaic gender roles” takes women’s leadership and growth seriously. At Bumble, employees have sit downs to discuss their career trajectories every few months and are encouraged to work flexible schedules that meet their needs. This is especially important for working mothers, who can earn more and stay on their career tracks when given flexibility in the workplace. Other perks: regular training and development opportunities and a monthly wellness stipend so you stay your best self.

6. Carbon: Carbon, a 3D printing technology company, is led by female-empowering CEO Ellen Kullman. Kullman, who was named to Comparably’s “Best CEOs for Women” list, joined Carbon at the end of 2019 and has already increased Carbon’s leadership team to 45% women, with a goal of increasing that to 50%. In a traditionally male-dominated field, Carbon is leading the way to increasing representation with many majority-female teams.

7. Citrix: As a leading software company, Citrix is proud of their efforts towards empowering young women in tech. Most notably, Citrix has an extensive partnership with Girls Who Code. They are a founding member of the College Loop program, which supports female college students, and sponsor their Summer Immersion program for high school girls. Most recently, Citrix worked with Girls Who Code on a matching donation fundraising effort in support of the COVID-19 pandemic.

8. Cognizant: You can meet tons of women working in tech as leaders and read their stories on Cognizant’s website, but they all share one common theme: they’re received incredible support from their company. Through Women Empowered, Cognizant employees can attend networking events, dinners, forums and even a book club, all specifically designed to bring women together and provide insight into the workplace. Cognizant has also pledged to close the gender gap and is aiming to employ 100,000 women by the end of 2020.

9. Deutsche Post DHL Group: Few companies are tackling women’s career growth and workplace equality head on in the way that Deutsche Post DHL Group is. Winner of a 2019 Catalyst Award for their strides in the area, Deutsche’s Women in Management initiative identified four main barriers to women’s advancement and created concrete solutions to those obstacles. Now, data across all employees is closely monitored to ensure that employees are equally fostered and advancing regardless of race or gender. And it’s working: since 2011 when the program was founded, there has been a quantifiable increase in women in management positions.

10.  DocuSign: Known as the leader in managing electronic agreements, DocuSign is also renowned for their commitment to empowering women in the workplace. DocuSign has three robust ERGs dedicated to their female employees, including DocuSign Women, the first Employee Resource Group established at the organization. The two other groups are women in product development, which works to advance and advocate for women in technology and women in solution engineering, which creates a forum for women and allies in the solution engineering organization to excel at DocuSign. These efforts to support and empower women helped DocuSign land at #15 on Glassdoor’s 2021 Employees’ Choice Awards top U.S. large companies list.