Amanda Gethin
Global Consulting Talent Leader, EY
Grace Bolton
Senior Manager Business Consulting at Ernst & Young LLP, EY
Inclusively designed workplaces can unlock the strengths and skills brought by women and neurodivergent employees.
Embracing diversity, including the contributions of neurodivergent women, fosters a more dynamic tech industry. People with spiky cognitive profiles — including dyslexia, ADHD, autism and dyspraxia — are valued for their skills, work approach and technology proficiency.
Highlight strengths of neurodivergent employees
Amanda Gethin is the EY Global Consulting Talent Leader. EY is a leading assurance, tax, transaction and consulting services company. She points out that there are clear cognitive strength spikes that many neurodivergent individuals possess, that should be enabled in a work environment.
“We are trying to unlock untapped talent and potential, by designing our workplace neuro-inclusively, so this community can thrive, and to leverage their strengths, recognising that different people contribute in different ways,” she says. “For example, depending on an individual’s cognitive profile, you might see a high level of creativity, allowing them to see patterns, join dots and think in a very non-linear way.”
Advocate for neurodivergent women in tech
The organisation focuses on supporting women to prevent the compounded barriers of gender and neurodiversity from limiting career progression. Gethin says: “We know that women are underdiagnosed and better at masking their traits, yet the skills and attributes neurodivergent individuals have are so relevant to the future. It could well be the ‘unlock’ to start increasing representation of women in technology. Businesses that fail to do so could face lost opportunities.”
Embracing diversity, including the contributions of neurodivergent women, fosters a more dynamic tech industry.
Social equity driving inclusive experiences
The EY organisation’s ambition is to create an environment where neurodiversity is understood and supported, where thinking differently is valued, and where people can play to their strengths, according to Gethin. “We believe that the societal statistic of one in five individuals being neurodivergent applies, which is about 80,000 people in our organisation alone,” says Gethin.
One step on their journey to making the company neuro-inclusive was setting up Neurodiverse Centres of Excellence (NCoEs) to leverage the unique talents of people who exhibit varying strengths and weaknesses in cognitive tasks, to drive innovation. Within the NCoEs, over 850 professionals work globally across technical capabilities, including automation, blockchain and data. Learnings from the NCoEs are now applied throughout the organisation to create a truly neuro-inclusive workplace.
Empower neurodivergent professionals
Grace Bolton is a Senior Manager within EY’s Consulting service line and identifies as neurodivergent, with cognitive traits associated with dyslexia and ADHD, including pattern recognition, complex problem solving, curiosity, energy and empathy. As a neurodivergent woman in tech, working with large-scale transformation clients, the organisation has supported her to create an environment where she can harness her strengths and has provided her with opportunities for leadership and progression.
Bolton explains: “I embrace my spiky cognitive profile to help solve key client issues. I know my strengths and struggles and openly articulate where I add value and where I may not be best placed. I want to help create this environment for everyone.” Alongside her consulting role, she co-leads the organisation’s Neurodiversity Community, with members from over 30 countries. She highlights the organisation’s commitment to inclusive design that empowers neurodivergent individuals and women to play to their strengths.
Neuro-inclusive design benefits everyone
Gethin and Bolton advocate for companies to challenge current workplace design through the lens of neurodiversity. Putting humans at the centre to create a skills-first, neuro-inclusive employee experience will enhance both individual work–life and business productivity for all employees and in particular, neurodivergent women.
To do this, businesses must actively increase the awareness and understanding of neurodiversity in alignment with future skills and to help all employees better understand their cognitive traits. Building on this awareness, individual workplace adjustments can be offered, such as access to coaching and assistive technology. Core business processes, such as recruitment and team resourcing, should also be challenged, removing barriers to businesses accessing the necessary skills of the future.
The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organisation or its member firms.
