Giving Compass' Take:

• Entrepreneur magazine reports that programs for women in the computing and technology fields have inadequate support, per a recent study, urging action to close the gap.

• What measures can nonprofits take to help boost women in tech? Could early childhood gender-focused STEM learning be an area of investment?

• This new coalition is helping to promote more women of color in tech.

Diversity is essential, especially in the workplace. When people of different genders, backgrounds and experiences come together as a team, they develop innovative ideas and, in general, perform better across functions in an organization. Companies across the world understand this, yet not many work rigorously to close the gap.

The tech industry, for instance, is filled with men. Only 11 percent of senior tech leaders are women. What’s worse, companies like Google, eBay and Salesforce spend as little as five percent of their philanthropic dollars to close the gender as well as race gap.

A recent study, conducted by Melinda Gates’ investment and incubation company Pivotal Ventures in partnership with McKinsey & Company, says last year 32 large tech companies raked in $500 billion in sales, of which more than $500 million was used for philanthropy. But of that, only $24 million was spent to support programming for women and girls, while a paltry $335,000 was used for programs dedicated to women of color, says the study “Reboot Representation: Using CSR and Philanthropy to Close the Gender Gap in Tech” ...

The report has identified ways to increase the number of women studying computing and entering tech, which companies could embrace and close the diversity gap. The first one is to focus on women and girls.

“It is important for companies to support either girls-only programs or coeducational programs that focus on achieving at least 40 percent representation of girls through proactive recruitment and retention steps. Maintaining a focus on women’s equal representation, with stated goals at the program level, is the only way to avoid replicating the same gender ratios we see in tech today,” the report says.

Read the full article about how tech companies can promote gender diversity by Pooja Singh at Entrepreneur.