Gender inequality in technology occupations is prevalent across the globe. It occurs in United States, Asian, and European corporations; and can impact salaries and job openings, board and executive levels, and even organizational rank.
According to Larry Summers, Harvard University’s president in 2005, biological distinctions between males and females could account for the lack of female mathematicians and scientists. While Mr. Summers apologized after making this comment, the event shed light on the underlying cause of the issue: the education system. Despite the fact that females in high school outdo males in science and math, males have a greater likelihood of doing better on standardized tests, which results in males having a better chance of becoming a STEM college major (science, technology, engineering, and math). Research has demonstrated that women choosing college majors typically avoid STEM subjects due to their perception that these topics require students to already be extremely smart.
Despite these complications, it is essential that female career progression through gender equality in STEM schooling be achieved. Alarmingly, women tend to leave their positions in tech for a variety of reasons at twice the rate of men. Clearly, the current state of the industry must shift to engage more females.
Gender equality throughout diverse fields is morally right and also necessary to have a strong, maintainable, and flourishing technology sector and society as a whole. Research has proven time and time again that having a diverse workforce with women at the same level as men creates more optimal results. There are numerous tasks that the government, academia, and organizations ought to do to emphasize the importance of women in technology. Supporting and investing in talent according to equality should be the foundation for future success and vigorous innovation.
As a collective, it is imperative that women and girls receive hands-on experience to the potentials of technology, as they desire. Many groups are being established to address this need, some of which are Girls Make Games, #movethedial, and Girls Who Code. The concepts of these organizations are to provide workshops to motivate girls to discover the sphere of video games and other technological avenues. Many such groups are non-profit and seek to emphasize the opportunities there are for females in these industries. Girls Make Games provides a fun introduction to video games for girls, as users can be either creators or players. Girls Who Code is an organization that seeks to minimize the gender incongruity in technology by allowing female students in middle and high school to learn and discover coding in an environment that is enjoyable.
Wherever you get your degree, whether you take online classes, attend a free code academy, or go to a night college because that’s all the time you have, technology is where the jobs currently are and will be in the future, but females are already being disregarded. Only 30% of students majoring in computer science at Stanford are women, even though it is the most common major at the university. Cooperative action must be taken across academia, citizen sector, and government to create actual transformation and accomplish complete gender equivalence within the tech industry.
Feature Image: ted.com
