For Tech Companies in the Bay Area, Gender Diversity Still Lags A new study revealed the most diverse players in the tech sector as major companies make public efforts to hire more women and minorities.

By Reuters

This story originally appeared on Reuters

Shutterstock

Gender diversity in the San Francisco Bay Area technology sector has improved over the last five years, but the region's most gender-diverse businesses are in the retail, biopharmaceuticals and financial services sector, a new study from the University of California, Davis, found.

Out of the 223 largest publicly traded companies headquartered in the Bay Area, more than one third had either zero or just one top position held by a woman, the study found.

Still, that represents a big improvement from five years ago, when almost two-thirds of Bay Area companies had either zero or one top position held by a woman.

Retailer Williams-Sonoma, biopharmaceutical company Medivation and bank Wells Fargo ranked as the companies with the most high-ranking positions held by women, researchers said. In the technology sector, the most diverse player was software company Zendesk, tied for No. 4. Search engine Yahoo, led by Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, tied for No. 8.

The results come as major companies make public efforts to hire more women and ethnic minorities. In particular, there has been a national debate about the lack of diversity at Silicon Valley's tech companies.

The study defined top position as either a company board member or an executive whose compensation was high enough to be disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Those with no women in a top position included network security company Palo Alto Networks, data company Hortonworks and Cypress Semiconductor.

Ingrid Burton, Hortonworks' recently appointed chief marketing officer, said diversity was a "top priority" at the company.

Representatives of other companies said restricting the pool to only those executives with SEC-reported compensation was too narrow.

Software companies had one of the highest percentages of women directors and the lowest of top-paid executives, said study author Amanda Kimball.

Starting last year, many top Bay Area tech companies began releasing diversity statistics, generally reporting around one quarter of their top employees were women.

In the UC Davis study, iPhone maker Apple ranked No. 25, social network Facebook No. 30 and search engine Google No. 68 among Bay Area companies on gender diversity.

Chipmaker Intel, which at the start of the year said it would spend $300 million over five years to improve diversity, ranked No. 48. Networking company Cisco Systems, which started releasing diversity figures a decade ago, ranked No. 41.

(Reporting by Sarah McBride; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

They Started a Side Hustle Producing an 'Obvious' Food Item. It Hit $300,000 Monthly Revenue Fast — On Track for Over $20 Million in 2025.

When Jason Rosenbaum and Hailey Swartz couldn't find the product they wanted to see on grocery store shelves, they took matters into their own hands.

Business News

2 Major Career Companies Are Laying Off 1,300 Employees: 'AI Is Changing the World'

The job cuts at Indeed and Glassdoor mainly impact U.S. roles on teams such as research and development.

Growing a Business

How The NBPA and a Top African University Are Investing in Africa's Future — One Startup at a Time

One Court Africa hosted NBA players at UM6P in Marrakech for a four-day program focused on social entrepreneurship and sustainable business, which included mentoring six African startups and awarding $160K in grants through its Innovation Challenge.

Franchise

4 Reasons Why Local Entrepreneurship Is the Secret Weapon of Great Franchises

Community-driven leaders not only strengthen customer relationships but also innovate and elevate the brand, proving that the best franchises are built on the foundation of trust, collaboration and local intuition.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Marketing

The PR Playbook Every Emerging Brand Needs — But No One Talks About

The unglamorous (but necessary) work that makes press coverage possible.