At Appwrite, we believe in celebrating women every day and not just on a single day. We have come together for a month-long celebration of women in various fields who inspire us. I’m grateful to be working for a company that values and pursues diversity. I was the first woman hired at Appwrite. Now I’m happy to say that I’m working in the most diverse team I’ve worked in so far in my career. However, my experience with gender balance has always not been this positive.
During my design studies, my classes had a good gender balance. Coming into my first design jobs, I noticed a massive change in the diversity of the teams that I was working in. Even more so was the lack of women in leadership. The higher up you go in the leadership ladder, the fewer women you’ll see. The numbers reflect my experience — In the US, only 11% of Creative Director positions are held by women.¹ In the UK, 67% of design graduates are women, yet only 17% are Creative Directors.²
Even though these statistics are disappointingly low, there are incredibly inspiring women leading in tech and design. I want to celebrate one of them today — Julie Zhuo.
Julie Zhuo worked previously as VP of Product Design at Facebook. After graduating, Julie became an intern at Facebook and was quickly promoted to manager at 25. She writes about her experiences in leading a high-growth start-up in her book “The Making of a Manager.” The book is an excellent resource both for those making a transition into management and for more experienced managers who want a fresh perspective.
Next to her book and blog, Julie regularly shares practical tips in her Twitter threads. Highly recommended for those — like me — who don’t always have the patience to read long articles and books.
Reversing the trend of women in leadership (or lack thereof) requires a big change in the tech and design industries. Hiring processes, mentorship, eliminating bias and growth plans. I am hopeful, and optimistic for a future in design with a better gender balance, but at the same time I also believe there has to be done more. Not only do we need to change the practical aspects of the current way of working, we also need to work on the mindset, and the unconscious bias of the industry. A way to do that is by shining light on design leaders like Julie and other talented designers out there. There are enough women in design, and there are more Julie Zhuo’s. It’s up to all of us to help lift them up.
