How can we get more women to work in tech? And is it a supply issue?
If you ask Gaurav Gupta and Iris Bloemsma from the Blockverse Institute, it is indeed a supply issue. In fact, fixing the “supply side” of the talent market is essential to increasing diversity in tech.
Key Takeaways from the episode
In Episode 85 of Women Disrupting Tech, they share their playbook for driving change, including:
🔍 Unlocking the untapped potential of women returning to tech after a career break
👩💻 Combining skills training with confidence-building for lasting success
📊 Using data to tailor education to meet the needs of women and employers
Tune into the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, or hit play below.
Making Blockverse the Platform to Upskill and Match Women to Tech | Ep. 85 – Women Disrupting Tech
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- Key Takeaways from the episode
- Want to help build a more inclusive tech industry? Change starts here!
- The Magic in This Episode 🪄
- The Two Zero-Cost Ways to Support Women Disrupting Tech
- What Stood Out to Me
- About Iris Bloemsma
- About Gaurav Gupta
- About The BlockVerse Institute
- Your Opinion Matters!
- What’s coming up?
- More episodes like this?
The Magic in This Episode 🪄
“When we don’t do anything, the percentage of women in tech is on the decline. Because women are leaving, and there is not enough supply entering.” 😳
We’re about 7 minutes into our conversation when Iris Bloemsma underscores the need to fix the supply side of the talent market. It’s essential to increasing diversity in tech.
Gaurav Gupta and Iris Bloemsma are tackling this challenge by building and scaling The BlockVerse Institute, a platform designed to empower women new to tech, especially those returning after a career break, such as maternity leave or relocation.
In Episode 85 of Women Disrupting Tech, we uncover how they’re
👩🏻🔧 Helping women re-enter tech after career breaks,
💪🏼 Combining skills training and confidence-building, and
📈 Building data-driven solutions to create real change.
And then there’s this: Gaurav recalls a father in India who approached him after his daughter completed BlockVerse training. “You’ve given my daughter a chance at generational wealth,” he said.
🎧 Ready to learn how to unlock new talent and redefine tech’s future? Tune in on Spotify.
The Two Zero-Cost Ways to Support Women Disrupting Tech
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What Stood Out to Me
With labor shortages, you’d think that employers would be turning over every stone to find people. But as you’ll hear, that is not the case.
I was surprised to learn that employers in the Netherlands have not been considering women who have taken a career break (e.g., relocation or maternity leave) as employees.
This has unintended consequences: besides persisting labor shortages, the career ladder for women in tech is broken right in the middle.
And if you can’t complete all steps of the ladder, you can’t end up in leadership. But, as Gaurav aptly puts it, “if employers start looking in places where they’ve not been looking, they’ll be surprised by the gold under the carpet.”
I experienced the career break issue firsthand when my mother wanted to return to work after raising me for about 8 years. I saw her struggle, not because she didn’t have the capabilities but because she lacked the confidence to sell herself. Training, like the one Blockverse provides, would have definitely helped.
BTW, my mother landed well in the end as the job market started to accept part-time work.
🎧 Listen and learn how the Blockverse Institute is becoming the Platform to Upskill and Match Women to Tech! Tune in to the episode on Apple Podcasts using the button below.
Or click the image with the quote to watch the episode on YouTube.
“If emploers start looking in places where they’ve not been looking, they’ll be surprised by the gold under the carpet.”
Gaurav Gupta, Founder and CEO of The Blockverse Institute.
About Iris Bloemsma
Iris Bloemsma is a strategic advisor to BlockVerse Institute. She currently holds a role as director of Noble- institute for visionary leadership. Prior to this, she worked in HR positions at Customs Group and Rabobank.
You can connect with Iris on LinkedIn.
About Gaurav Gupta
Gaurav Gupta is the founder of Blokverse Institute. Prior to founding BlockVerse Institute, Gaurav worked in senior HR positions at Akzo Nobel, Carrefour India, GenPact, and Ranbaxy.
You can connect with Gaurav on LinkedIn.
About The BlockVerse Institute
BlockVerse Institute offers training programs that help diverse talents like women who relocate to another country gain a foothold in tech. And they can upskill existing employees, too. They work with partners like Deloitte and Google. In the past, they have partnered with the Dutch government to increase the representation of underprivileged groups in tech through projects in India and South Africa.
You can learn more about the programs that the BlockVerse Institute offers on its website. And I invite you to follow the journey on Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Your Opinion Matters!
What do you think is the biggest barrier preventing women from re-entering tech after a career break? Let me know what you think in the comments.
And if you would like to suggest a guest or a theme for the podcast, please let me know via email or send a DM on LinkedIn.
What’s coming up?
I’m proud to say that we have some amazing episodes coming your way in the next few weeks.
In episode 86, Sara Leggese and I have an interesting conversation about the relationship between upbringing and career choices.
After that, Dieuwertje Drexhage comes on to share how her company, Layco Medical, is designing for sustainability and equality in childbirth.
So, stay tuned for more inspiring stories on Women Disrupting Tech! And if you want to be the first to learn about new episodes, subscribe to updates.
Until we meet again in the next episode, keep being awesome.
More episodes like this?
I met Iris and Gaurav during the demo day of the 2024 cohort of the Dutch New Narrative Lab (DNNL). If you’d like to hear episodes from other inspiring participants of the DNNL 2024 cohort, you can check out the following three episodes:
– In episode 80, Virginia Scheele shares her journey to building the sustainable and inclusive version of AirBnB with GINI.
– In episode 66, we hear from Kasia Prokop how Mamamoon supports the 3 M’s of women’s health and wellbeing.
– In episode 62, DNNL Founder Ruben Brave explains how we can create new narratives for an equal and innovative society.
Women Disrupting Tech | The Podcast 
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