Diversity in all its social forms is critical in the tech business as it enables companies to create better and safer products for everyone. Studies show that companies with culturally diverse staff perform better, have more talented staff, and have more engaged workers than companies that do not prioritize cultural inclusion. Therefore, encouraging inclusivity in the tech industry is necessary in order to continue creating better tech products.
Gender Makeup in Tech Today
Women are still underrepresented in the tech industry, holding 25% of all the jobs in the industry, although they make up nearly half of the total workforce. And this is in times when STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) jobs are increasing in popularity and importance. The small number of women in tech is rather a really complex issue that could be addressed from multiple angles. For now, we focus on inspiring female leaders in the tech industry.
7 influential women in tech
There are a lot of brilliant women in leadership positions that are changing the landscape of the tech industry. For example, some females are founders of various companies dedicated to teaching girls to code, innovators in the fields of AI, VR, and machine learning, and CEOs of companies.
We present a selection of 7 influential women successful in the tech industry right now and several texts and interviews worthy of inspiration.
1. Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube, known for being Google’s first marketing manager, has become the Silicon Valley native. Wojcicki tackled the concern of women in tech in the article: “How To Break up the Silicon Valley Boys’ Club”.
2. Safra A. Catz is the CEO of Oracle, a business-software giant that is best known for its developments in AI, IoT, and blockchains. Safra Catz is in 15th place on the Forbes list “The World’s 100 most powerful women”.
3. Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, is a New York Times bestselling author and the brains behind the famous TED Talk, “Teach girls bravery, not perfection”.
4. Ginni Rometty, the former Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, more than being an entrepreneur, is an electric engineer that consistently encouraged women in tech. During her tenure at IBM, she made bold changes to reposition the company for the future, investing in high-value segments of the IT market.
5. Ellen K. Pao, the co-founder and CEO of Project Include, was the CEO of Reddit. Later, she co-founded the Project Include – a nonprofit organization focused on improving diversity in the tech industry.
6. Danah Boyd, the founder and president of Data & Society, founded her own research institute to address the ethical and legal implications of emerging technologies. She also currently serves as a partner researcher for Microsoft.
7. Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook and the founder of LeanIn.Org, manages Facebook’s sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy, and communications. In 2020, Sandberg had a TED Talk worth watching by all of you about the experience of being one of the very few women at the C-level of business.
This list is by no means all-encompassing. Thus, there are many more successful women that you should seek out and follow if you are interested in building your awareness of women in the field of tech.