#WomanOfTheWeek

The importance of learning about women leaders in STEM

When I was appointed Product Manager of my team at Carmel 6000, I instantly knew what my first project would be... I was going to educate the team about women leaders in the STEM world, whether past or present. Every Sunday, the first day of the week here in Israel, I present to them a small excerpt about a woman.

Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, and Katherine Johnson are the few we started with. But why is this important?

Most of these women did not get the recognition they deserved, because they were women. These women were essential to what technology looks like today. Ada Lovelace was considered the first computer programmer and Grace Hopper’s findings led to the development of COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today.

Today, we still need to fight for our recognition. We face sexism and harassment in the workplace. For women in the tech industry under age 25, earnings on average are 29 percent less than their male counterparts. It has definitely improved over time but we still need to fight twice as hard as men for the same respect. The drop out rate is more than twice as high for women (41 percent) than it is for men (17 percent).

“A BCG study of MassChallenge startups found that female-founded companies generated 10% greater revenue over 5 years than their male counterparts but despite their performance, women still receive just 2% of venture capital.” — Jane VC

Companies like Jane VC, AmplifyHer Ventures, and Female Founders Fund who invest in women-led companies are paving the way to increase that 2%.

According to PWC, in a study they conducted only 78% of students can name a famous female working in technology. We need to teach students about women who achieved great things to look up to and aspire to be.

66% of girls aged 6–12 express interest in the STEM field but by the time they reach 17 it drops to a staggering 32%.

This shows that 18, is a crucial age. This is the age when women need to see, how they can succeed in a job in STEM, and see that there are women who faced those challenges but became great regardless.