A study that examined 424 startups (private and VC-backed companies) and 70 venture capital (VC) funds that are active in Israel presents captivating data about women in the Israeli startup/tech ecosystem.
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The research reveals that the average percentage of women represented in the companies studied is 33%. However, representation of women changes based on the size of the company. Not surprisingly, larger companies tend to have higher percentages of women employees (36%) than smaller companies do (30.8%), numbers that appear to support the claim that it is harder for smaller companies to ensure a diverse workforce.
Larger companies also have larger operating systems and can put more resources into recruiting efforts, and have a greater need for human resources, legal, finance, and support jobs – positions for which women are frequently hired.
When it comes to actual tech jobs, only 27% are filled by women, with some variance depending on the company's field of specialization. The digital health sector had the most robust female representation, with women comprising 45% of employees or more at over 60% of the companies studied. Women hold at least 35% of leadership roles in digital health companies.
But overall, women hold less than one-quarter (23.4%) of leadership roles (C-level jobs, vice presidents, directors) in startup companies.
The sub-sectors of Israel's startup/technology landscape that employ the fewest women are cybersecurity, automotive, electronics, and telecommunications. The percentage of women employees in these sectors ranges from 27% to 18%.
When it comes to the driving force behind the startup industry, venture capital, only 14.8% of the partners in the 70 VC firms studies are women, and only 9% of investing partners in those companies are women.
The data were collected by the Power in Diversity initiative, a project that partners with over 220 VC funds and startup companies to promote diversity and inclusion. PID was founded by Alan Feld, funding partner at Vintage Investment Partners. Kobi Sambursky, funding partner at Glilot Capital Partners, and Sivan Shamri Dahan, managing partner and co-founder at Qumra Capital, co-chair the initiative.
"The report highlights a point of view about women working in the ecosystem which is both critical and credible. Undoubtedly, the situation is far from satisfactory. Women should fulfill many more of the leading roles in companies and VC," Dahan said.
"There is no reason why the makeup of the human factor in the ecosystem should not represent the number of women in the general population, and, furthermore, the number of qualified women for these roles. Start-ups should focus on recruiting more employees of underrepresented populations and PID is here to help them," she added.
Shahar Silis, managing director at PID, said, "Many companies are unaware of the diversity measures of their employees as well as the representation rate in the various populations. We hope that showcasing the companies that are doing this successfully by allocating considerable resources to the implementation of diversity programs and focusing on expanding the pool of candidates that are underrepresented in the workforce will serve as an inspiration to organizations that are interested in doing more."
Sambursky said he believed that "2022 will be the Year of Diversity for our startup industry."
According to Sambursky, the Israeli startup ecosystem has seen an "extraordinary" few years in terms of funding, IPOs, and unicorns, but the sector still has much work to do when it comes to diversity.
"Like startups, VC must also be proactive by employing many more women, Ethiopian Jews, Orthodox Jews, Arabs, individuals with disabilities, and other populations. The first step is full transparency," Sambursky said.
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