TWIPN: Still Work To Be Done To Champion Women In Adtech In 2024
07 Mar, 2024
Hazel Broadley, Content Lead at The Women in Programmatic Network and Director at Lexical Llama, explains how industry networks are the key to helping women thrive in adtech.
There’s certainly a lot to be thankful for as we celebrate International Women’s Day 2024. Slowly but surely, we’re addressing long-standing societal disparities, as both men and women recognise the importance (and benefits) of cultivating a fair, balanced workplace environment.
But if we look at adtech specifically, there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to gender representation in the sector, the gender pay gap, and equal speaking opportunities.
1. Bringing women back to adtech
Surprisingly, representation in the workplace has decreased in recent years, having reached a peak of 52% in marketing, media and adtech in 2020. Since then, women have left the industry in droves, and today, comprise only 35% (down from 46% in 2021).
2. Addressing the pay gap
The good news is that for those women who are in (or looking to join) the industry, the gender pay gap has come down to 24% (from 30% in 2022). But as the recent MarTech article asks: “Should women be more assertive or the market be more responsive?” For me, the answer is both.
3. Getting more women on stage
With ‘manels’ still dominating across pockets of the industry, we need to ramp up the importance of hearing women’s voices on stage alongside male counterparts. Although this has improved in recent years, repeat offenders are causing palpable tension across the industry - among both men and women.
A space to share, speak, and succeed
Continuing to build the narrative around championing women in adtech is key, and that’s why I’m proud to be part of The Women in Programmatic Network (TWIPN), a community created by co-founders Emily Roberts and Sophie Toth to provide opportunities and support for women in the industry.
Since 2020, the network has offered a safe space for women to come together and participate in a wide range of networking opportunities, from annual in-person events to virtual monthly speaker sessions discussing the latest and greatest topics in the industry - from AI to data privacy and everything in between.
Today, the ops team has blossomed into a group of awe-inspiring women who work tirelessly - both in their day jobs and as volunteers for the network - to champion other awe-inspiring women in the industry.
Sitting at the helm is TWIPN Chairwoman and Digital Media & AdTech Consultant, Emily Palmer, who became involved in the group in June 2020, “back when we were a handful of women meeting virtually, before we became The Women in Programmatic Network.”
“As I leaned into the knowledge-sharing aspects of the group, I was rewarded with a camaraderie and common purpose that has continued to guide my support of the network, which is centred on lifting the women of our industry up,” explains Emily.
TWIPN's mission is simple: to empower women who work in programmatic advertising and related areas, or are looking to better understand tech, data, ad ops, sales, marketing, legal, etc, from different perspectives (buy-side, sell-side and intermediaries), and to increase the number and significance of women in the industry globally.
We have an active LinkedIn and WhatsApp community that spans a growing number of Chapters including the UK, US, Germany, France and Belgium, Spain, Singapore, and ANZ.
We also encourage women to put themselves forward for writing and speaking opportunities (conference organisers take note - we have a growing list of speakers ready and willing to share their expertise).
And the best thing? It is free to join and open to all levels, from intern to CEO.
As we strive for equality in adtech, I’m confident that communities such as TWIPN will continue to lift us up, empower us to be more assertive in the workplace, and give us a chance to shine in 2024 and beyond.
For more information about The Women in Programmatic Network, visit thewomeninprogrammaticnetwork.com.