In this AV News Q&A, Gergely Vida, CEO, Lightware Visual Engineering tackles the increasingly important issue of diversity in the AV sector.
Gergely Vida, CEO, Lightware
AVN: Does the AV sector reflect society as a whole?
Gergely Vida: No, it certainly does not. In terms of gender, the AV sector does not reflect the gender ratio that in 2021 was 101.68 males per 100 females. In the AV industry, gender discrimination is the most conspicuous.
But is this really discrimination? Or does it rather reflect the consequences of the deeply rooted stereotypes of fostering and education that are still shared by our society? Girls are wearing pink, boys are dressed in blue, girls get lovely dolls, whilst boys receive 3D printers and robots for their birthdays. In school, girls are expected to be good at arts, languages, and literature. Whilst boys have to be mathematicians and physicists by default. Society can be seen as the main culprit that channels and unconsciously narrows the scopes of young ladies’ interests well before they will make their well-thought-over choice of their education and future job.
It is only recently certain movements in approaches toward K-12 education have been observed. Teachers start sharing the ideas of equality and encouraging young ladies into embracing natural sciences to make their pace towards engineering or computer science more confident and welcome.
Parents as well start to dream of a more versatile future for their daughters. Changes in fostering and education, encouraging girls in STEAM and engaging them in coding and design will certainly enable their future successful careers in the AV, engineering, and other industries.
AVN: Is the AV sector missing opportunities as a result of any imbalance?
Gergely Vida: Yes, it definitely does, and there several obvious reasons. The users of AV are both genders. This means creating products for customers, developers and designers are expected to make them comfortable and intuitively understandable for both genders which is in fact not quite always the case for genders and for older adults. Moreover, when it comes to creativity or innovation which are essential for a successful business, versatility in experience, background, and perspectives are immensely needed. Unfortunately, now the AV industry can hardly boast of having these essential conditions.
AVN: Where and how do these imbalances arise?
Gergely Vida: They come from parental influences and school. We are still very much traditional societies. But this does not exhaust the list of the guilty. Small and large corporations, have to admit the criticism of their HR departments – and not them alone, for being unconsciously biased. For certain positions, certain genders are wanted. And of course, when it comes to sourcing an AV project developer or designer, by default, we are currently looking for a male for the role. Ethics or ethnics are in most cases, are not barriers to getting a job in corporations. However, a female applying for a position of an AV engineer will most likely surprise us.
Some corporations that have started realising the benefits of diversity shifted from scanning CVs. Now they practice the blind distribution of assignments among jobseekers with further blind assessments. This method has resulted in an increase in hiring females in various industries. Corporations that strive to achieve diversity in their workplace benefit from it. It has been stated in numerous research stisies that diversity fuels innovations and customer insights. Forbes’s best workplaces for diversity enjoy 24% higher revenue growth. Such companies are reported to be more successful in expanding their businesses and capturing new markets.
Diversity and inclusion are not the same things. Companies can mandate diversity, but they have to cultivate inclusion. Inclusion brings engagement and creativity which are basic conditions for business success.
AVN: How does diversity apply in your company?
Gergely Vida: Lightware is a multinational, multi-ethnic company. We embrace a lot of nationalities who work across the globe, and in the HQ in Budapest. Lightware supports talents valuing each team member and providing inclusive leadership.
The number of women working in Lightware is growing. Of course, it has not reached 50% for the afore-mentioned reasons. Still, we are happy to state that more women join the team for various positions making Lightware more successful in innovations, creativity and overall business achievements.
Of course, the number of women in various departments varies greatly from ‘significant’ like in HR, financial and marketing departments to ‘very low], which in particular is sadly relevant to the product development team. Thus, Zsófia Pataki is the only lady holding the title of Product Manager. With her master’s degree being the Management of Innovation and Business Development at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, Zsófia is a valuable member of the team, having a passion for innovation, holding huge potential for creativity, and sharing her business experience for successful product development.
Zsófia leads the development of Lightware’s LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) firmware that is first integrated into the flagship TAURUS UCX product family and expands its innovative features. With LARA, Zsófia and the team offer unique benefits for users and AV integrators, such as room automation based on the mixed approach that allows using pre-coded modules and coding for specific needs. The concept of LARA is friendly and encouraging for AV professionals. Innovation, usability and the absence of unwelcome complications are its key characteristics that ensure future success for the product and the company.
Zsófia’s experience in the company is exciting. One can only imagine how powerful the success of AV can be in a five-ten years span when more brave and creative women offering their unique backgrounds and perspectives populate the industry.
Zsófia Pataki is the only lady within Lightware senior management holding the title of Product Manager
