The history of women in the workforce is one of triumph and grit. Women have played a significant role in helping to advance diversity in many sectors of industry, but not all. While there have been gains in some industry sectors, the technology sector still struggles with diversity in the workforce across the United States.
According to Pew Research, women still remain underrepresented in engineering (15%) and computer (25%) occupations. In spite of these inequities, women have remained dedicated to overcoming traditional bounds and making the workforce better for future generations.
Jess Evans’ journey through her career is one such inspiring story, as she embodies these changes to model and support women in information technology (IT). Today, Evans serves at Arizona State University (ASU) as the IT Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer for the University Technology Office (UTO). With a track record of working with business leaders to deliver digital transformation, scaled technology solutions and IT operational excellence that reduces costs and improves service delivery, Evans’ impact and innovation reaches across the entire university.
Evans started her journey with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Kent State University. She also later gained her doctorate in management from Case Western Reserve University, where she studied designing sustainable systems.
Before joining ASU, Evans had built a career as a skilled senior IT executive in various industries at a global and regional level, including finance, insurance, consulting, education and healthcare. She began with software program improvement in her earliest days in technology, wrote code as a consultant, and quickly transitioned from consulting to manufacturing at IBM. There, she had an opportunity to work in enterprise-level transformation.
Evans has developed passions and leadership centered on transformational change, agile methods, design implementation and execution throughout her career. She now achieves operational successes through key enablers within technology adoption, design innovation, design modeling and data science experience, which shape and guide the implementation of strategic initiatives. With experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, Evans has a unique perspective on innovation and change.
ASU and Education for All
Much of ASU’s success is attributed by Evans to a well-defined and steadfast commitment to its Charter, which states that the university is measured not by whom it excludes but by whom it includes and how they succeed. ASU provides access to education to people of all ages and from all walks of life. “There are no restrictions on who can become an ASU member, a seeker of education or a scholar,” Evans says.
For those immersed on-campus or online, the university is broad, open and welcoming. This is crucial since it distinguishes ASU from the traditional educational method, which is exclusive and focused solely on academic characteristics for merit.
ASU embraces all students and strives to provide more equitable access to education. That accessibility is supported by many divisions, including UTO, where Evans and her team ensure operational excellence for the university.
For the seventh year in a row, ASU has been named the most innovative school in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report. It’s an exceptional honor that differentiates the university as an educational and innovative leader committed to providing education to anyone who seeks to learn. This requires a solid dedication to creative thinking, not just in technology but also in program offerings. “We support individuals who may not have been able to travel down those non-traditional avenues,” Evans notes as a critical differentiator for ASU.
With over 150,000 degree-seeking students, ASU has a unique offering of blended learning called ASU Sync, where students may experience synchronous teaching in-person and online simultaneously, in addition to many asynchronous programs through ASU Online “When you aggregate all of our degree-seeking students, we are one of the nation’s largest university,” Evans says.
She adds, “When you look at other institutions, they have large-scale numbers. They do not compare because ASU is a single institution. We are not an educational system spread out across an entire state. We are one university aspiring to provide access to anyone who seeks to learn.” Evans says that she considers herself privileged to be part of ASU leadership.
Breaking the Gender Bias Barriers
When Evans sees the state of the current corporate working culture across the US, she finds one of the most significant barriers for women is the implicit bias of those who believe that women may not be able to aspire to outstanding leadership, or those who have preconceived notions of how women should behave in the workplace.
Throughout her career, Evans has directly experienced behaviors that significantly and negatively impacted her ability to progress upward in her career. In some cases, that led to barriers in partnerships when it came to formulating strategies, in the form of getting pushed back because she is a woman.
“When I was working at a large multinational company, I had peers who would sit at the table and ask me to bring them coffee,” she shares. “And I inquired, ‘why do you want me to get you coffee?’ Well, aren’t you only a secretary,’ they said. Evans explained that, while administrative professionals employ extensive coordination and organizing abilities, and therefore, she would be proud to have served in that capacity, she simply was not in that role. “I’m here as a technology leader leading this meeting,” she said.
Evan also shares that she has had many encounters like this, where she was demeaned and undermined just because she is a woman.
These mindsets create perceptions of inequity, Evans finds. She asserts, “These types of behavioral barriers not only make it hard to progress in one’s career, but it makes it hard to form a trusted bond with your co-workers when you’re just trying to do the best you can and help advance the mission of the area in which you’re working.”
Evans states that whether you’re trying to write a strategy, solve operational challenges or advance innovation, it takes commitment and trust amongst leaders and team members. Trust cannot be built with an implicit bias, which leads to disruptive behaviors instead of collaborative ones. That is a massive barrier that is harder to overcome, and is one of the most common challenges in the workplace.
Sharing the Significance of Diverse Leadership
It is critical for a business to have diverse leaders, whether due to gender diversity, cultural diversity or just a variety of thinking, Evans feels. It is essential to bring diversity to the forefront and prioritize it in executive leadership since diversity allows insights that otherwise would not have been accessed. She says that when a company has a diverse leadership team, it must connect with employees. Then, an organization will have a sense of community, and when organizations have a sense of community, individuals will recognize themselves, feel at ease, and have a desire to perform their best work.
If organizations want to have an intrinsically driven workforce, where individuals are motivated on their own, teams need to see leaders in whom they can see themselves, and then the urge to aspire to that, Evans explains. Employees that see themselves as part of the leadership have hope and purpose, and they know that if they are committed to the organization, they may achieve their desired leadership goal. This principle also applies to those who do not seek higher leadership levels.
Having a diverse executive team and multiple layers of diversity helps the entire division or organization aspire to greatness by working together and learning to blend differences to advance the goals and mission.
Evans’ work has impact across the university
Evans’ responsibilities at ASU encompass all IT operations, including everything infrastructure, network, storage, compute, cloud, telecom, web conferencing, video conferencing, classroom technology, integrated services for software, mobile development, enterprise applications and more.
UTO offers 165 technology services to all ASU locations and employs approximately 700 people, including students who work directly in university technology. ASU has five physical campuses in Arizona, one in Los Angeles and one in Washington, D.C. The institution has offices and classrooms in Dubai, Singapore and Vietnam and is now partnering with a massive research complex in Bermuda.
Evans oversees all technical services across all of these sites, including financial, staffing and technical operations. This work has two aspects: operational and digital transformation.
Coaching and mentoring technology professionals is also a vital aspect of Evans’ day, helping them achieve their aspirations and establishing pathways to success.
At ASU, Evans is a major problem solver. She says, “When individuals come to me with difficulties, partnering with them, collaborating with them, and working as a team to get the greatest possible conclusion offers me absolute delight, and it’s through that coaching and mentoring that being a technology leader is genuinely gratifying.”
A Loving Mom, an Avid Reader, and an Adventure Enthusiast
Balance for Evans means that she is obtaining satisfaction from her profession while working at ASU. “I’m accomplishing things that I set out to do, and then I also have downtime to spend with my family,” she notes. “The amount of time that comes each day for those two things is different, depending on the day’s needs.”
Jess has flexibility in her workplace, so she can spend time with her family or work, whichever may have the higher need at the moment. As a mother of three teenagers, her time outside of the workplace is often consumed by them, helping them learn how to be good adults. Jess is an avid reader who likes to read a variety of genres, including historical fiction, nonfiction and general fiction. She enjoys spending time with her loving spouse and two pets, and does hiking around Arizona. She asserts, “There are many places to hike in the mountains, and so outside of the workplace, I try to find activities that bring calm and peace to me.”
Advice for the Next Generation of Female Leaders
Organizations should be intentional when looking at the diversity of their teams. Building leadership teams where female leaders and leaders of multiple races, genders and cultures are woven into the fabric of the organization, potentially brings opportunity for innovation or transformation in today’s modern workplace culture. This workplace culture is critical because, as Evans puts it, “Your leaders represent your organization.” She shares, “If your employees can’t see that your determination and focus is that way, you won’t be able to get that creative thought and advancement as much as to say an organization that doesn’t have diverse practices.”
While sharing her advice for the next generation of female tech leaders, she says there are so many necessary attributes, depending on which particular pathway one likes to take in technology. Evans believes that the essential qualities for leadership, not as an individual contributor but as a leader, are emotional and social intelligence and breadth and depth of knowledge in your chosen field, whether it is software development, networking or infrastructure cloud computing, to name a few.
Technology complexity has evolved over time. System design has grown exponentially and today’s technology solutions have more dependencies on other systems than earlier technology solutions. Evans states that the most important element that all tech leaders must strive for is the knowledge of this complexity and how to apply this knowledge. She says, “You can be an exceptional leader when you comprehend the interdependencies of various paths and or verticals of technical services. Thus being able to comprehend the consequences of making decisions with depth, breadth, and complexity.”
It puts technology leaders in a difficult spot to keep up with the changes. So Evans advises professionals to stay up to date on current knowledge. It is critical, the higher you go, that you understand how new technologies or advancements and services impact your current field through your depth, breadth, and complexity. “When you have those elements tied with emotional and social attributes, that’s the complete package of a successful technology leader,” says Evans.
Success is Empowering, Improving, and Bettering Others
Jess is the type of person that always aspires to be the best version of her. She constantly challenges herself as she matures and evolves as a leader, employee, and mother. When she brings joy or helps alleviate a stressor for someone, Evans feels a sense of personal success.
“Because I am a leader, whether I’m a leader in technology or any other industry or facet, being a leader allows me to bring joy to others, help alleviate stress, provide guidance, set clear direction, and champion the mission,” she says. “Through mentoring and relationship building, I can feed my desire to help others and help the organization advance the needle on goals, which is a personal success.” She further adds that success is not about achieving it; it’s about fine-tuning it every day and making it better until you decide that you have reached your personal best and want to do something different.
