Having spent most of my career in the IT industry and, more recently, in the tech sector across different geographies, the topic of gender diversity has been an ongoing debate, both at a personal and professional level. As ever it goes back to the cultural and educational background and while some see gender diversity - or the lack of it - as a threat, others consider it an opportunity.
Either way, there is data showing different trends across different industries. I want to share my own observations and the evolution that I am seeing in the CS space.
The ultimate goal for CS professionals is to make sure that each assigned customer gets the value out of their purchase. This is mainly done by product knowledge and understanding the customer business, but empathy and relationship building also play a crucial role. Ultimately Customer Success is all about service and requires more of a service mindset from successful CS professionals - and this is seen almost everywhere, which I think is quite unique to the industry. There are communities and forums dedicated to CS and the members are open to interacting, sharing, and helping. CS departments are usually the most open and caring in any company: they go above and beyond for the internal and external stakeholders.
It requires a certain type of character and personality to work in Customer Success, regardless of gender. This is borne out in my own experience of this sector, I have never noticed a lack of women coming through into senior roles. And usually, they are from the same background.
In today's more open and transparent working environment, gender diversity should have less weight than diversity such as cultural background, language skills, industry knowledge, etc. Many professionals see the latest changes in the CS space as an opportunity for growth. People want to understand what's happing in the CS job market and what's available. Some are looking to transition into CS and many are looking to change for more fulfilling roles. There will be a growing need for people from different backgrounds and hopefully, this will help us move even further away from the question about gender so we can focus on diversity overall.
What are your thoughts? Would love to hear your opinion!
