For the longest time, men have dominated the tech industry, grabbing all the lucrative positions. Thankfully, women are finally stepping up, and in the last decade, there have been more ladies working in tech. This comes as great news because the world may finally witness gender balance in engineering and sciences. Numerous STEM sectors, including technology, engineering, science and maths, are making strides when it comes to offering ladies core roles.
According to the Office of National Statistics, WISE, the number of ladies in engineering has doubled to 50,000 in the past decade. Today, women make up about half of the people in science roles. The number of females in management roles in STEM has also risen by 14%. This progress indicates that forward-thinking companies can create the much-needed change the world needs. Currently, there are millions of women in technology, core science, math and engineering roles globally. Hopefully, the numbers will continue to rise, and there can be more female representation in these tech fields.
The National Science Foundation recognizes the fact that ladies more than ever are earning STEM degrees – something that will help more ladies transition to the tech field. The ladies are also catching up to the men in earning bachelor’s degrees in engineering and science subjects. This is bound to translate to more women in the fields after graduation. More ladies in tech imply that there will be more innovation, impact and revenue. They will also act as role-models, encouraging young girls to pursue careers in tech. This can already be seen in various sectors, including gamers where more ladies are getting involved in the production of top online slots. It is also important to note that women are not only joining the tech field, but they are causing major waves in the industry. Many famous women have changed the tech world, and some of the most phenomenal women include:
Ada Lovelace
Born in 1815, Ada Lovelace is one of the most famous women in the tech world. She was born in London, where she was home-schooled by her mum and other tutors. Lovelace’s mother insisted that her daughter be taught mathematics and science. This turned out well because Ada turned out to be a well-known English mathematician and writer. Ada is referred to as the first programmer because she left written notes that described how the notion of a specific engine could transition calculation to computation. Lovelace died in 1852. She is celebrated every second Tuesday in October, a day that has been dubbed Ada Lovelace Day. This was set aside to celebrate the achievement of ladies in STEM careers.
Reshma Saujani
Saujani is the founder and CEO of Girls who Code. She is a lady who wears many hats as she is the brains behind the famous TED Talk “Teach girls’ bravery, not perfection” and is also New York Times bestselling author. A refugee’s daughter Reshma graduated from Yale Law School and Harvard University. She became the first Indian-American woman to run for congress in 2010. Two years later, she founded a non-profit “Girls who Code” established to increase the number of females in the computer science field.
Ginni Rometty
Born on 29th July 1957, Ginni Rometty is another woman who is celebrated in the tech world. She was the first woman to serve as IBM chairman after stepping down from her role as CEO. Before becoming the CEO and president of the company in January 2012, Rometty first joined IBM as a system engineer in 1981. She has also worked as head of global sales, strategy and marketing. As the CEO, she focused on IBM analytics, cognitive computing systems and cloud computing. As IBM’s CEO, she received notable awards, including Time’s 20 Most Important People in Tech, Bloomberg’s 50 Most Influential People in the World, Forbes’ America’s Top 50 Women in Tech and Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.
Grace Hopper
Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper is another famous lady in the tech world. She was an esteemed computer scientist and among the first computer programmers to work on the Harvard Mark I. Her work led to the establishment of COBOL, an early programming language that is still being used to date. She recorded the first-ever real computer bug in 1947.
Susan Wojcicki
The CEO of YouTube, Susan is one of the most brilliant ladies in tech. Having been employed as the 16th employee in Google, Wojcicki first started working as a marketing manager. Susan contributed to the development of AdSense and Google Images as she climbed the ranks. The mother of 5 and Silicon Valley native suggested the acquisition of YouTube and went ahead to be its CEO in 2014. Susan also contributed her voice in regards to gender discrimination in the tech world. She has been on record, saying that tech is an incredible force that will change the world in a way that cannot be anticipated. She continued to state that there is a problem if the force is only 20-20% women.
Danah Boyd
It’s not possible to talk about the women in tech without mentioning Danah Boyd, the founder and president of Data & Society. A nationally recognized scholar, Boyd founded a research institute to address the legal and ethical implications of emerging technologies. Currently, she also serves as a partner researcher for Microsoft. Her work includes multiple thought-provoking publications on topics like accountability in media manipulation and machine learning.
