
How to prevent employee burnout through a growth mindshiftÂ
When we feel stressed, we’re more likely to operate from a place of fear and fall back on a mindset that is fixed, judgmental, and focused on polarities – behaviour that soon...
by Sarah E. Toms Published April 29, 2025 in Brain Circuits • 3 min read
Helping young women to be confident in their skills, including laying out a plan for their professional future that has actionable steps, is fundamental for women tech leaders.
Use unconscious bias as a “litmus test” for selecting candidates and vendor partners in the tech field. These biases often reveal themselves in subtle ways, such as writing technical specifications for a male rather than female audience. Using tools such as Textio can help remove gender-biased language from written materials such as job postings. Being vigilant during initial interactions helps identify these biases early.
Tangible business benefits arise when women are included in the workplace. Diversity leads to increased innovation, higher revenues, and greater organizational resilience. Women also tend to build more human-centered technology, which enhances overall product usability and impact.
Men can be important drivers of change: by building awareness and articulating a vision of an inclusive culture, they can amplify an organization’s commitment to the cause and inspire their teams to do the same.
Sponsorship can be more effective than mentorship in scaling gender diversity. Effective sponsorship involves leveraging a network rather than focusing on a single individual; hence it is better for supporting women in their careers.
Engaging with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) experts can provide valuable insights and tools to attract and retain women in tech. Although they are often underutilized, DEI initiatives can create a supportive and inclusive work environment.
The lack of women in tech roles results in a loss of diverse perspectives and hinders overall progress. A collaborative effort is needed to advance gender diversity in the industry.
Chief Innovation Officer
Sarah Toms is Chief Innovation Officer at IMD. She leads information technology, learning innovation, Strategic Talent Solutions, and the AI Strategy. A demonstrated thought leader in education innovation, Sarah is passionate about amplifying IMD’s mission to drive positive impact for individuals, organizations, and society.
She previously co-founded Wharton Interactive, an initiative at the Wharton School that has scaled globally. Sarah has been on the Executive Committee of Reimagine Education for almost a decade, and was one of the ten globally to be selected as an AWS Education Champion. Her other great passion is supporting organizations who work to attract and promote women and girls into STEM.
She has spent nearly three decades working at the bleeding edge of technology, and was an entrepreneur for over a decade, founding companies that built global CRM, product development, productivity management, and financial systems. Sarah is also coauthor of The Customer Centricity Playbook, the Digital Book Awards 2019 Best Business Book.
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