Women in Technology. A gender gap to innovation?

If you believe like me that necessity is the mother of invention, then you may also be inclined to agree that diversity is the mother of innovation. When the need for something becomes essential, we are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it. And, within the technology industry, the role of women is increasingly being linked with high-impact innovation.

There are numerous studies which prove that diversity of thought leads to better decision-making and risk assessment. We know that gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their peers (McKinsey & Co., 2015). And that diverse management teams have 19% higher revenue due to innovation (Boston Consulting Group, 2018). Such findings are hugely significant for tech companies, start-ups and an industry where innovation is key to sustainable growth.

Yet, there continues to be twice as many male entrepreneurs compared to female (Forbes, 2018; Camelo-Ordaz, 2016). Female entrepreneurs receive less than 2% of all venture funding (Harvard Business Review, 2017). And, only 1/3 of the world’s technical workforce are women (World Bank, 2018). This begs the question… where are the female innovators? And, once we find them, how can we ensure they have the resources, business support and self-belief to turn their ideas into reality?

EY is part of a wider ecosystem of organisations working hard to provide a platform for women in technology. We know that by closing the gender gap we widen our access to talent and create an environment where diverse minds come together to realise their ideas. The impact of this can be seen most keenly in the examples of female innovators who’ve used technology to address some of our world’s most pressing challenges – thereby meeting the needs of our whole society, male and female alike.

Here are just a few examples of well-known female innovators who’ve used their technology skills to build a better working world…

• Grace Hopper, known as ‘the mother of computing’ who’s credited with the idea that computer code could be written and read like language.
• Annie Easley, worked at NASA to develop code for the first electric battery used in hybrid cars.
• Mary Allen Wilkes, pioneered ‘working from home’ via her development of the LINC personal computer.
• Karen Sp?rck Jones, laid groundwork for the natural language processing discoveries we use today in internet search engines.
• Joan Ball, founded the first computerised compatibility system which became the fore-runner of today’s online dating services.

For those of us who are passionate about supporting the next generation of female innovators, I encourage you to…

• Get inspired by finding and championing positive female role models in technology – particularly within the media which has a growing influence on young people’s life choices
• Ensure that capital for research & technological development (“RTD”) is accessible by everyone – addressing any gender bias in the awareness of funding and its allocation
• Encourage collaboration with and between female innovators across all fields of expertise – there is no monopoly on creative thought, so ensure women have a seat at the table
• Recognise and reward women’s contribution to the technology industry – leave no hero unsung and be an advocate for those who might not seek awards or praise
• Support platforms and organisations that promote women’s access to technology, talent and information – in a networked world, the surest path to success for female innovators is via wider and deeper connections
• Openly challenge prejudices, pre-conceptions and stereotypes of women in technology – be vocal when you see examples of toxic masculinity in the workplace or unconscious biases amongst those around you

We must remember that technology is not simply a commodity to be outsourced, or a bag of tricks to build better word processors. It’s a discipline that is central to solving human problems and realizing our ideas for building a better working world. By acting together to close the gender gap of women in technology, we create an ecosystem that enables high-impact innovations to flourish.

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References

Boston Consulting Group, 2018. How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation.

Camelo-Ordaz, 2016. The influence of gender on entrepreneurial intention: The mediating role of perceptual factors.

Forbes, 2018. Where are all the UK’s Female Entrepreneurs?

Harvard Business Review, 2017. Male and Female Entrepreneurs Get Asked Different Questions by VCs — and It Affects How Much Funding They Get.

McKinsey & Co., 2015. Why Diversity Matters.

World Bank, 2018. Data bank: Female Percentage of Technology Labour Force.