EMPOWERING WOMEN IN TECH THROUGH HASHTAGS
As a Woman In Tech, you might likely have been aware that you are one of the only women setting foot in and staying in the industry or you might have experienced a segregating effect of being the only woman in the room. This complication isn’t new in tech, this has been an issue for several years and can be somewhat demoralizing for more women to enter the tech industry. So, no matter if you’re a woman in tech, a tech curious, or a company trying to hire more women, this is something you must have definitely encountered.
WHY WOMEN IN TECH NEED TO BE EMPOWERED?
Now the question arises why are we facing this issue? The corporality of power isolation between women and men in technological talk and the presupposition that technology, including information and communication technology (ICT), is close to men actually causes women’s discrimination and marginalization. Realistically, technology has become an empire filled with gender recognition. Hard skills and zones of adeptness are divided between the genders, shaping manliness and womanliness in technology. Regrettably, the dominance of masculinity has been associated with technology from the birth of its disclosure until present evolution. Subsequently, women have restricted room, are undervalued, and are cramped in their incompetency in using technology. Amid these conditions, there are various ventures by women to probe masculine command and augment their room in the domain of technology, one of the instances is the Girls in Tech Indonesia (GIT-ID) community. In India, we have a Global Fund for Women grantee partner that uses a Feministic Approach to Technology to create a movement of tech-savvy young women and girls by training and engaging young women aged 12–18. They offer confidence and skills-building courses alongside computer classes and pieces of training.
In terms of admission and implementation, the number of women occupied in technology is really less. Research results from Microsoft Asia depict that women are more occupied in the non-tech world than men. In this contemporary period, only one in five women work in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field. To have a better understanding of how disparity in STEM might impact the world as a whole, check out https://medium.com/ieee-women-in-engineering-vit/gender-disparity-in-stem-a17c11dae2a2
Women empowerment and gender equality are important factors for any nation’s development.
“Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are and where we’re going.”
-Nichelle Nichols
One of the foundational ways to depict gender in society is through technology. Technical and skill abilities are divided by genders, forming manliness and womanliness in technology. From its emergence, technology was loaded with gender recognition, the most iconic women’s skill was stereotyped to be able to do household chores, while men had to get a job and support the family; technologies such as cars, and guns are considered alike to men while women are contemplated ‘suitable’ with ironing equipment, sewing machines, stoves.
WHAT NOW?
Digital media has opened up opportunities for women to free themselves from the confines of incapability so that women’s equality and empowerment in technology can be ultimately achieved. Access to technology, control of it, and the ability to create and shape it, is a fundamental issue of women’s human rights. Women empowerment through education is the most common and efficient way of uplifting women. But how can we empower women in tech is the main query here. Let’s first look at quite a few ways in which we can empower women in tech:
- STUDY UP-Read blogs or best women empowerment books by or for women in tech.
- FOLLOW THE LEADERS-Follow ladies and female influencers associated with technology on Twitter and Medium. Dive into women empowerment websites.
- VOLUNTEER- Volunteer to speak on a panel or at a conference.
- SHARE STORIES- Ask your female colleagues about their experience as a woman in tech.
- BUILD A WOMEN’S NETWORK- Women’s network is beneficial to sponsor women as it will have a more stimulating path when making it as a woman in tech.
Among all these ways, Building a Women’s Network is the most effective one. Women are heavily affected in their careers by the gender make-up of their network, so setting up such groups can empower women in technology. Also, in these unpredictable circumstances, when all of us are stuck in our homes, this might be the best possible solution for women empowerment during the pandemic
HASHTAGS, THE NEW CATALYST FOR EMPOWERMENT
Women dominate social media. They rule Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, and stand click-to-click with men on Twitter and Tumblr. It’s not all pretty pictures. This is honestly the breakout year for driving cognizance of women and girls’ issues through hashtag activism. You can find a wonderful community or network on Instagram and Twitter. There are a lot of programmers on these social media. Sounds surprising right? Having a virtual Tech community with like-minded people, in addition to having real-world communities, can act as a driving force in empowering women. Using hashtags related to women in tech can help you find people with similar mindsets and goals. when people in a community discuss problems and new ideas, we often get unexpected results. There are also many other advantages of these virtual communities such as allowing participation as per the convenience of the participant, participation of people from different places. Also, people can express their ideas in the language and medium they are comfortable with. Many creative hashtags have trended in the past that expanded like wildfire and motivated thousands of people to join and participate. Some of these are:
- #LeanIn- Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller has helped revolutionize a movement that allowed women to openly share their challenges and achieve professional goals.
- #ChangeTheRatio- it was a movement to increase access and opportunity for women in all walks of their professional lives.
Similarly, a lot of hashtags have been trending on Instagram and Twitter that help people find a virtual community. some of the famous hashtags on Twitter and Instagram that focuses on the empowerment of women in tech are:
- #womenintech
- #tech
- #women
- #womeninstem
All these hashtags can help you discover new communities for Women In Technology. Virtual communities have blossomed in recent years and you can be a part of this amazing community by finding people with similar ideas using women in tech-related hashtags. Besides the perks for an individual coder though, user groups for a programming language or industry can help the broader community of programmers in several ways. Most importantly, these communities can provide a learning place for a new developer to meet people, learn more about their language(s) of choice, and get advice on how to gain the necessary skills to accomplish their goals.
REFERENCES:
- https://www.caktusgroup.com/blog/2017/09/25/importance-developer-communities/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326965397_Instagram_its_influence_to_psychologically_empower_women
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanmcpherson/2014/05/27/empowering-women-and-girls-one-hashtag-at-a-time/?sh=6fdd783058ac
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338882813_Empowering_Women_in_Technology_through_Digital_Media_Case_Study_of_Girls_In_Tech_Indonesia_Community
- https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/our-approach/initiatives/technologyinitiative/
- https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/support-women-in-tech/
- https://www.womenintech.co.uk/4-ways-empower-women-technology
- https://women-in-tech.org/who-are-we/
