The Urgent Need
Tech failed the grade in diversity. Here’s how.
- In order for the tech industry to perform better, more women must be deployed on board and in workforce, research shows.
There are gaps between genders in many industries, starting from the distribution of overall workforce:
Tech industry is mostly dominated by males. The women in the industry are largely not paid well, facing greater levels of discrimination at work.
- A report shows 38% of women report being unsatisfied with their compensation compared to 33% of men.
- Another report shows 50% of women said they had experienced gender discrimination at work, while only 19% of men said the same. The numbers were even higher for women with a postgraduate degree (62%), working in computer jobs (74%), or in male-dominated workplaces (78%).
There is a cultural view on women which stemmed from distribution of roles inside cultures in the past. This, preconception, can be seen in examples above (i.e. less pay, more discrimination towards women).
In the 18th and the start of the 19th century, academic institutions were newly founded and women were more welcome to them. This period saw many female role models in science. For example, Ada Lovelace came up with the idea of an extensive programming language before it was invented, and Maria Mitchell played a crucial role as the first professional female astronomer in the United States, making significant contributions to astronomy.
Before we fast forward, let me show you a figure:
The data clearly shows gender diversity is a crucial part of innovation, climate innovation and climate governance, making up to climate performance in companies.
Therefore, forward to 21st century, we see more female role models emerging. Examples could be given such as: Marissa Mayer, former president and CEO of Yahoo; Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer of Meta and founder of LeanIn.org; Ginni Rometty, former CEO of IBM.
This is due to the capabilities digital age offers: Ease of access to information through devices. Now it is much more easier to access content through internet, connect with peers focused on similar topics, and so on.
With the help of this access, many organizations tackling gender diversity in tech industry were founded lately. we see organizations like these emerging more effectively and easily than ever:
- Ada Developers Academy
- Black Girls CODE
- Girl Develop It
- League of Women Coders
- National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)
- Up School
- Women in Cloud
- Women in STEM
You can contribute to some of these organizations through donation, volunteering and participating in their programs. At last, advocating for inclusive policies at work is something we all can do, and that i am encouraging you to.
Also, before concluding i’ll expand on two of these organizations:
- Up School: Provides programs for women to kickstart their tech career.
- Women in STEM: Encourages female high-schoolers to promote their participation in STEM fields.
I’m optimistic on their progress, having seen their diligence.
The problem is there and the door to opportunity is certainly open much wider— and there are more options for women to explore and forge different paths if they don’t like the professional road they’re on now.
Moving forward:
“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” — Sheryl Sandberg
Additional readings:
