More tech girls are needed to create the solutions of tomorrow

If we don't succeed in attracting more girls to STEM subjects, the consequence could be new decades of discriminatory technology. The responsibility to change this rests with all of us - and we need to act now.

Beware of the assumption trap

The year was 2016, and I was the global IT director at Equinor. Along with my male colleague, I entered a large external meeting in the USA. Once inside the meeting room, everyone assumed that my male direct report was the boss, while I was evidently perceived as a natural administrative assistant and bag carrier.

On a busy day, we can all forget to allocate time for research before the first meeting of the day. However, there are several reasons why this type of assumption mostly goes one way: Most technology leaders are men. And assumptions often rely on experience. When you exclude doctors, dentists, and veterinarians; mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering have a female representation of 24 percent, according to statistics from SSB (Statistics Norway). Today, the tech industry in Norway consists of around 29 percent women, an increase from 2016 when the figure was 17 percent. The progress we see is positive, but it is still not enough: Statistics from ICT Norway and Abelia show that Norway already lacks about 15,000 IT professionals. By 2030, this number will rise to 40,000.

In an industry that is screaming for expertise, it should be obvious that one shortcut to the goal is to recruit from the entire population. Girls and women must be included. We have seen improvement since I was a 'bag carrier' in the USA on that fateful day in 2016. But I must admit I find it both frustrating and difficult to observe how slowly things are progressing, especially when we consider the significant consequences.

Low female representation impacts our ability to succeed

Low representation of women, whether it be in finance, technology, or other industries, has consequences. And this doesn't just affect the women themselves but also society's ability to succeed - for instance in the transition towards net zero. Because how can we arrive at the best solutions for the future if those developing them do not reflect the diversity of our society? And if diversity drives innovation and better results, why haven't we made more progress in increasing the proportion of women and other minority groups in some of our key industries? Let's take an example from the financial world.

Female entrepreneurs struggle to secure capital for their startups, in fact only about 1% of available venture capital in Europe is accessed by women founders. It seem unlikely that female entrepreneurs consistently come up with worse ideas than men. The answer likely lies in the fact that investors, who are mostly men and have biases like we all do, support technologies and innovations that are relevant to them, similar to something they are familiar with, and created by someone who resembles them. This contributes to the fact that seemingly 'narrow' fields like women's health are not recognized and supported with capital, even though they are useful and vital for half the population.

Technology works best when created by diverse teams

There is nothing from a professional or technical standpoint suggesting that men cannot create technology that works also for women. However, history has unfortunately often shown otherwise. On the technology front, the examples are pretty clear.

Smartwatches and rings tell you to stay in bed if you're pregnant because they cannot distinguish illness from something as common as pregnancy. Facial recognition finds it more challenging to recognize women than men; in fact, the technology failed in 7 percent of cases for white women, while this only happened 1 percent of the time for white men. Among dark-skinned women, facial recognition failed in a whopping 35 percent of attempts. Furthermore, women are underrepresented in the field of cybersecurity. It is in my view not far-fetched to think that there may be a connection between this gap and the low number of convictions we have seen for the illegal dissemination of private images, which mostly affects women.

Although girls receive better grades in STEM subjects than boys, boys choose these subjects more often. In 2022, coordinated admissions showed that the number of female applicants for information technology studies has doubled in the last ten years. Unfortunately, many girls drop out of the studies along the way. It may be because they are in the minority. A survey conducted by PwC showed that only one in four female students wants to work in tech precisely because the industry is male-dominated. This is a negative spiral that must be broken.

We must promote the possibilities working in tech bring

The challenges are many, but one thing is certain: To attract girls to tech, their interest must be awakened early. If you get insight into how technology subjects shape the future and contribute to solving societal problems in your twenties, the likelihood is high that you have already started on a different career path. This is where we as adults come in: We cannot force tech on our daughters, but we can promote the possibilities that exist.

In August, TENK Tech Camp was held in Norway's four largest cities. Here, girls aged 13-18 participated in workshops, listened to lectures on technology, and met talented women who demonstrated the varied career opportunities you could have ahead of you if you choose the technology track. By meeting like-minded people at such events, we break down the image of a male-dominated industry where girls are the exception. Such events play a crucial role if we are to achieve a more balanced gender ratio—a diversity we sorely need if we are to develop relevant digital services for the entire population.

Only through diversity and inclusion can we build a technological future that truly recognizes that girls and women make up not only 50 percent of the population but also half of the available brainpower and potential. This is a resource we must harness - not only for the sake of us as individuals, but for the benefit of our society and the people who are part of it.

PS! A shorter and slightly different version of this text was published in Norwegian as an OpEd at Digi.no in August 2023: Flere tech-jenter m? til for ? finne morgendagens l?sninger - Digi.no