More agencies have dogs than they have Mums! Is it that dogs are better suited to agency life or are we not harnessing our full creative potential yet. It is well documented that diversity in teams increases productivity and that a gender split increases this still, but how can we know what we need if we don’t know what is out there.

Design Director Abi Fawcus gave one of the talks at the reasons.to conference in Brighton 1-3rd September 2014. As part of an incredibly creative and inspiring 3 day conference Abi was pushing the virtues of Mums in the work place with her talk: HIRE MORE MUMS… they have superpowers!

Women are under-represented in the tech industry. But this isn’t a surprise. As long as we keep trying to ram square pegs into round holes this will always be the case. We should not just be focusing on our technical expertise, but instead look to see what gender differences and life experiences can do to improve this gift of technology.

The web industry is young and first we were learning how to walk and talk. Technically our products and services should now be of a very high standard so what will set us apart or make ours stand out but the ‘way we walk’ and the ‘way we talk’. To do this we need to harness the wealth of human emotion around us, and yes that does mean that Mum’s have a surprising amount to offer!

This talk will shed light on female characteristics and parent virtues in a technical environment and how layering our human emotion over technical and creative capabilities will help us grow up as an industry. And perhaps we may just create the space for women to see they belong here too.

Abi has spoken at conferences, ladies in leadership events and at schools to encourage women to stand up and lead our industry forward, together. Over 20 years in the web industry Abi has worked as a visual designer, ux designer, company director and currently holds the position of UK Design Director. She lives in London with her husband, 2 daughters and dog midge.

Have a listen to the 3 minute Soap-box version below: