There is a Chinese proverb that says, “Women may hold up half of the sky.” This proverb is particularly true for the technology world as women make up half of the total users, although they are largely underrepresented in the business world of technology.
This trend is not acceptable and unsustainable as not having women in the workforce is detrimental to the technological development and stagnating economic growth.
It is about time for women to be actively involved in the world of technology. In their report, “Women Matters” McKinsey & Company indicate that Women continue to make up less than 40% of the global labor force and only 25% of management positions globally — while at the same time being responsible for 75% of unpaid care work. Dominic Barton, Global Managing Partner at McKinsey & Company, believes: “At the micro level, we continue to find a strong positive correlation between the representation of Women in leadership roles and the financial performance of businesses.”
Research by PwC revealed that having a woman on your team leads to increases in your success rate. Their research analyzed 450K crowdfunding campaigns and found that campaigns led by women were 32% more successful than those led by men across a wide range of sectors, geography and cultures. According to research from the Kauffman Foundation, women-led technology companies deliver a 35% higher return on investment than men.
There are quite some successful women who founded their own technology businesses including Jesse Genet, Tina Sharkey, Amy Chang, and Emily Weiss.
The women listed above, among many others, have done so well for themselves and the entire female gender by daring to be different.
Jesse Genet, founder of Lumi, turned down a mega shark tank deal before moving on to establish her company, which has grown tremendously in the last years. The company currently provides its services to customers from worldwide countries.
Tina Sharkey, former CEO of Sherpa Foundry and SVP at AOL, decided to do something better for herself by founding Brandless. The company’s mission is to make better stuff accessible and affordable for more people.
Amy Chang founded Accompany, a software company that makes use of an AI-driven database to provide rich, relevant insights for millions of people and companies, so they can always find the right people and build stronger relationships.
Emily Weiss single-handedly raised $30 million to facilitate her startup, Glossier, a direct-to-consumer beauty company that leverages content and community to power a superior shopping experience.
The examples listed above go to show that women have a whole lot to offer to the tech world because when given the opportunity of seeing the world and doing business, new ways of living will be revealed.
By encouraging Women to go into technology, such as leaders Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Meg Whitman of HP, and Marissa Mayer of Google, we will be able to convince upcoming generations that there is just as much room for women as men.
It is essential that investors begin to fund teams that include women, by investing and creating new opportunities for women. In addition, they should devise a method to eradicate the culture where women don’t participate in technology businesses.
Author: Liat Portal
Source: Medium
