The ad tech industry is one of many on a long list of male-dominated fields. But the status of ad tech as just another brodeo is – slowly but surely – changing.
Between better hiring initiatives and programs to support workplace flexibility, companies are finally taking necessary strides to include women in leadership positions – and implement ways to keep valuable female talent around.
An industry as convoluted as ad tech can’t afford to miss out on the brains of half the population.
Businesses are making real commitments to their employees, rather than paying lip service without having mechanisms in place to measure their progress, said Amy Leifer, chief ad sales officer at DirecTV.
Women’s representation in ad tech is “not where we want it to be yet,” Leifer said, “but it has certainly gotten much better.”
Numbers don’t lie
So, what is the state of representation for women in ad tech? Still not great, but there have been marked improvements in recent years.
As of January, roughly 10% of CEOs heading Fortune 500 companies in the US are women.
That percentage is tiny – and, according to Fortune, there are still only a handful of female CEOs who are women of color – but it’s a sign of improvement. The number of female CEOs at Fortune 500 companies has more than doubled since 2016, up from 4.2%. (For reference, that number was a paltry 1.5% in 2002).
When Leifer started her career in ad tech 30 years ago, seeing women in leadership positions was a rarity. “Plenty of times, I was the only woman in the room,” she said.
But more inclusive hiring practices are helping change the math.
Mobile ad network Adsmovil, for example, has a workforce that’s 70% women, which includes three female C-level executives. “I wouldn’t say it’s a formal policy, but an informal one to attract and retain female talent,” said Maria Twena, Adsmovil’s chief marketing officer.
Women are more likely to feel a sense of belonging in their workplace if there is a healthy number of other women present. People feel safe and accepted when there’s a shared identity.
Still, companies need to do more than just hire more women if they want to make individual employees feel included and supported enough to stick around.
Eager for inclusion
Inclusion is about more than hiring a certain number of people.
“Inclusion is about making employees feel like they belong,” said Christa Carone, president of media at Infillion, the video ad tech platform formerly known as TrueX.
Making employees feel comfortable may sound like a given, but women have a long history of being rejected from their workplaces at a higher rate than their male colleagues, especially because of gendered bias around age, marital status and whether or not they have children.
For instance, employers might question the wisdom of young women they think are attractive and might cause a distraction. (If that possibility sounds like some antiquated stereotype, Twitter suggests it’s a modern-day reality.)
When employees don’t feel welcomed and supported in their workplaces … well, they leave. Poor employee retention is in part why women are more often found in entry-level and middle management roles as opposed to leadership and executive positions. If women don’t stay on the job for very long, there’s less time for the possibility of a promotion.
What about women of color?
The lack of representation in senior positions is even more stark for women of color.
Before starting at Adsmovil in 2015, Jessica Ricaurte, who rejoined the company in 2022 as the CRO, began her career as a media buyer followed by roles in broadcast, neither of which had particularly women-centric leadership.
“And when you add a layer of diversity on top of being female, that gap is even worse,” Ricaurte said.
Women of color are sorely underrepresented in the ad tech industry, but companies with existing women in leadership are in a position to bring on other women of color.
“As an Asian female, I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for the strong female leaders already here,” said Margaret Chu, Infillion’s CFO.
Taking it in stride
Despite some progress, the problem at hand is clear. But what are ad tech companies actually doing about it?
Tech companies need to hold themselves accountable, Carone said.
It’s up to business leaders to provide “the right resources and opportunities to make sure all of our talent stays engaged in our industry,” she said.
After all, she added, today’s working women are “ultimately our next generation of leaders.”
Ad tech companies are pushing themselves to create more workplace programs that will attract and retain female talent.
Infillion, for example, established a new DEI council last year to put stronger hiring initiatives in place for diverse talent. And DirecTV is prioritizing implementing flexibility in paid parental leave.
DirecTV’s parental leave program includes both maternity and paternity, but Leifer said the initiative began as an effort to support working mothers.
Meanwhile, Adsmovil provides full salary transparency to its employees, including ranges based on title and seniority because the wage gap between men and women of color is historically even starker than the gap between men and women in general. Adsmovil also has mentorship programs in place to help young women pursuing careers in ad tech get a foot in the door.
Caring is sharing
These types of programs and resources should span women’s stages of life and career.
DirecTV has a 12-week parental leave policy, for example, which is up from the industry norm 20 years ago, Leifer said, adding that a prior employer expected her to take off no more than six weeks when she had a child.
The need for more parental support became acute during the pandemic when women were often the ones expected to take on childcare duties at home while still continuing to work.
And as the bar of women’s inclusion rises, so do the next generation’s expectations – especially with the country’s social and political stability still in flux.
For example, the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade caused a rallying cry for organizations to do better by women’s rights.
Now, young adults are actively looking for benefits that ensure financial and emotional stability, including extended parental leave, medical and fertility care and travel reimbursement, Infillion’s Carone said. “These areas are all pretty new for [most] companies to consider.”
This momentum sounds promising. But how do companies ensure these efforts are actually leading to real results for women?
All about accountability
Supportive programs and resources are a step in the right direction, but companies also need ways to hold themselves accountable.
“Accountability is about data – everything needs to be measured,” Leifer said.
As the ad tech industry likes to point out, anything businesses invest in should be measurable.
For example, DirecTV closely tracks data on promotions throughout the company to ensure rates are equal and fair between men and women. And Infillion regularly surveys its staff about employee satisfaction.
Because Adsmovil has a strong focus on mentoring young Latinas, the company also keeps track of its progress and success in recruiting them to positions within the company.
“Sometimes these women are the first college graduates in their families,” Ricaurte said, “so they need more guidance throughout the [job-searching] process.”
Into the future
As the ad tech industry continues to prioritize women’s inclusion, more doors will open for young women to take on roles in the ad tech space and succeed in their careers.
Which is why plenty of ad tech companies invest in both showcasing their female leaders and mentoring young women who want to join those ranks.
Exhibiting women leaders is something that the industry has gotten right, said Laurel Rossi, Infillion’s CMO.
Young women who see diverse women in leadership will feel it’s possible to climb up the ladder, too.
Still, when it comes to full equity and inclusion for women in ad tech, Ricaurte said, “it’s not going to happen overnight.
“It will take another generation to get there,” she said, and as an industry, “we need to show the next generation of women that they belong.”
