TECH4GOOD
Tomorrow, March 8, the world will be celebrating International Women’s Day. In the Philippines, the whole month of March is celebrated as National Women’s Month. It is about time that I write about how women have contributed to the development of important tech innovations, but more importantly, the application of these advances toward improving lives and society in general. It is also time to celebrate the important gains we have been able to achieve to address the gender gaps in the technology sector.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI have become very important cogs in most people management and culture development programs of organizations today. It is seen to foster creativity, fresh perspectives, and understanding because it makes people of diverse backgrounds and orientations more comfortable in the workplace.
We are beginning to see women leaders finally breaking into leadership positions in what used to be traditionally male-dominated organizations. In October 2022, we saw the election of Doreen Bogdan-Martin as the first-ever woman Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in its 157-year history. The ITU is the UN’s specialized agency serving as its technology arm that ensures that every global citizen is able to enjoy the benefits brought by digital innovations.
The world today is not lacking in women role models in the tech space. Think of Susan Fowler who brought the culture of sexual harassment existing in several Silicon Valley tech icons to the fore and influenced institutional changes in how these companies should treat the problem.
We have Sheryl Sandberg who recently stepped down as COO of Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, who was also an outspoken critic of gender discrimination in Silicon Valley and was a strong advocate for equal pay, affordable childcare for working women, and women’s rights. The long list includes Lucy Ho of Hackergal and Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code for their pioneering efforts to get more young girls interested in software development. Susan Wojcicki, Youtube’s CEO since 2014, is also an example of a great role model for women in tech.
In the local scene, we also see a growing list of women holding leadership positions in the tech sector. We have Martha Sazon, president and CEO of Mynt which operates GCash, Grace Vera Cruz of Grab, Ayhee Campos of Infosys Philippines, Aileen Jiao of IBM Philippines, and Nora Terrado of Carelon Philippines. I am part of the Analytics Association of the Philippines which is now headed by Michelle Alarcon as its president. The Philippines has its own share of women leaders who have become icons in the local tech sector.
The world, however, still has a long way to go to achieve a more equitable male-female ratio in the tech world. The fact remains that, according to Zippia.com, women only make up 28 percent of the total workforce in the tech industry. The percentage of women in tech-related careers has actually decreased over the last two years. Even among the largest tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, and Microsoft, women make up 34.4 percent of their workforce. The same site also says that only 26.5 percent of executive, senior-level and management positions in S&P500 companies are held by women.
The gender gap in technology workplaces has persisted for many years. This is even more glaring in leadership positions. There is a need now to take a more proactive stance to address the situation and promote greater equality in the sector. One key strategy is to increase women's representation in the industry. The more women seen working in the tech sector would actually make tech jobs more attractive to potential women recruits. This can be accomplished by targeted recruitment efforts, the creation of mentorship and leadership programs, and the establishment of inclusive workplace cultures.
The existing macho culture in the industry is seen as the biggest barrier to achieving inclusive workplaces. Another challenge commonly faced by women is a work-family balance due to the high pressure and heavy workload of some technical positions which is also echoed by some male workers.
Other strategies to address the gender gap in tech work should include education and awareness-building programs. This should include outreach and education efforts in schools to encourage more girls to take on STEM courses and eventually pursue careers in tech.
The gender gap in tech workplaces is a complex and persistent problem that requires a multifaceted approach to address. Tech Network says it will take about 133 years to close the gender gap. But I am sure that if we are able to increase the representation of women in the industry, build inclusive workplaces and commit to awareness-building, we should be able to see the gap start to disappear because the diversity and skills that women bring to workplaces are seen to help drive innovation and progress.
(The author is the lead convenor of the Alliance for Technology Innovators for the Nation (ATIN), vice president of the Analytics Association of the Philippines, and vice president, UP System Information Technology Foundation.)