Tech-intensive industries are being decimated by an exodus of female role models at all levels due to the prevailing cultural issues around lifestyle. That’s according to Margot Slattery, Country President for Sodexo Ireland, who was speaking at the ‘Disrupt the Default – Closing the Gender Gap for Women in Tech’ event organised by Sodexo Ireland and global non-profit organisation Catalyst at the Bord Bia Thinkhouse in Dublin on July 11th. The event, which Margot Slattery co-hosted with Sandra Ondraschek-Norris, Senior Director, Catalyst Europe, highlighted the latest research, techniques and best practices that organisations around the world are employing to advance gender balanced teams in the technology sector. Catalyst research – High Potentials in Tech-Intensive Industries: the Gender Divide in Business Roles – showed that more than half of women (53%) who started out in tech-intensive industries working in a business role left to take a position in another industry compared to just 31% of men. Sodexo’s own research into the business case for gender equality gathered data from 52,000 of its own managers, from senior individuals to on the ground site managers, across the globe. “Where Sodexo teams are more gender balanced they are more engaged, productive and profitable, so there’s a clear business case,” said Margot Slattery. “Over the past three consecutive years, the gender-balanced teams were 13% more likely to record consistent organic growth and 23% more likely to show an increase in gross profit. They also performed better for employee engagement, brand image, consumer satisfaction and client retention. It does not mean that ‘unbalanced’ teams don’t perform, but the study found they did not perform as well.”