The California Diversity Council in the US (Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology) and the UK’s Women in IT Awards (the largest technology diversity event ever staged) are just two of the dozens of groups that honored tech’s most innovative and influential female achievers in 2017.
Women are beginning to make their mark on the tech world in a big way. But it’s going to take continuous effort to keep things moving forward.
The Gender Challenge
Technology remains a male-dominated industry. While women represent roughly half the workforce in the US, they still only account for about one-quarter of STEM-related jobs. According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), girls do science – they just don’t do computer science, where they currently earn only 18% of related undergraduate degrees.
Women are hugely underrepresented in the global technology workforce. Recent revelations of venture funding sexism in places like Silicon Valley are part of the reason why. But a recent ISACA survey revealed some of the other key factors that tend to hold women back:
- Lack of mentors
- Lack of female role models
- Gender bias
- Unequal growth opportunities compared to men
- Unequal pay for the same skills
Still, the tide does seem to be turning thanks to a lot of persistence and hard work, and women have a lot to celebrate when it comes to our progress to date.
A Good Reason to Celebrate
Despite a 3:1 male-to-female gender bias, women like Ursula Burns and Meg Whitman are shattering glass ceilings all over the tech industry (you can read about their incredible accomplishments in this article on five of the most powerful women in technology today).
In fact, with a 68% increase in the number of businesses founded by women between 1997 and 2014:
- We’re bringing in 20% more revenue with 50% less money invested
- We have a 35% higher ROI when we’re venture-backed
- We’re generating 12% more revenue than male-run startups
Some of today’s best-known companies were founded by extraordinary women, including Cisco (Sandra Lerner), SlideShare (Rashmi Sinha), Flickr (Caterina Fake), and Birchbox (Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna). So yes, we’re accomplishing some amazing things for the advancement and progress of women in tech.
We Are the Future
Not only is keeping the push on to support women in tech vital for closing the gender wage gap, it’s one of the best ways to infuse the workplace of the future with different perspectives and some well-rounded creativity.
Over the next decade, tech skills will play an increasingly crucial role in the workforce. The US Department of Labor estimates there will be more than 1.4 million computing-related job openings by 2020. Today, we have women computing grads that fill only a third of all students in graduate computing programs.
With more and more opportunities opening up for women in STEM-related fields, here’s how the NCWIT says we can all do our part to encourage more women to grab hold of them:
- Talk with girls about why they should consider a computing career
- Ensure that your own organization employs inclusive practices that will retain young women who choose computing
- Don't mistake prior experience for ability
- Provide ongoing encouragement, and never underestimate the power of this simple effort
The time has never been better for women to make a difference in the world by becoming creators of the technology that empowers and redefines our future. I’d like to leave you with this look at 30 of the most inspirational women to watch in tech for 2017. There are many great initiatives happening now and hope more women recognize their sense of passion, creativity and originality in the examples set by these outstanding female leaders.
