Burning up the charts! (not)
Happy International Women’s Day!
Proclaimed in 1975 by the UN, women have made some progress over the past 50 years.
But recent headlines of women’s progress in tech are not exactly burning up the charts.
In fact, progress has been slow.
International Women’s Day has been a favorite holiday of mine since its inception in 1975. Falling one week before my birthday, and in celebration of women’s accomplishments and recognition of the long way we have to go, I always look forward to March 8.
And when I saw the headlines in LinkedIn and my news feeds extolling “Tech’s gender gap is narrowing,” I certainly expected something better than was originally reported in The Financial Times, in their “Gender gap in tech narrows…” piece this week.
Forgive my eye-rolls. I’m an impatient elder.
Anyone who knows me well knows I’ve been enamored of technology my whole life… starting in 1973 when I took my first mobile phone call as an Operator working a summertime job for AT&T. And I joined the tech workforce officially in 1984. So this is my 40th year in tech and I remain less than impressed by the reportedly ‘recent gains’ women are making in the tech sector.
From the Financial Times article:
In the US, the proportion of female workers in tech rose from 31% in 2019 to 35% by the end of 2023, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. JLJ: 4%!
Across the EU, the percentage of women rose from 23% before the pandemic to 25.2% at the end of 2023, with increases in most EU countries, according to official Eurostat data. JLJ: 2.2%!
Women accounted for 25.3% of Google’s new tech hiring in 2023, up from 20.8% in 2018, according to the company’s diversity report. JLJ: 4.5%!
Overall female representation rose from 30.9% to 34.1% per cent over the same period. JLJ: 3.2%!
At Microsoft, women in tech roles grew from 21.4% to 26.6% since 2019. JLJ: They broke 5%!
Overall, Microsoft’s female workforce rose to 33.1% in 2023, up from 29.2% in 2019. JLJ: 3.9%
Facebook and Apple showed similar trends. JLJ: a similar, pitiful state!
Any tech company growing revenue an average of 4% would be laughed out of town.
In fact, have a look at the market cap growth of the ☝🏻 example tech companies ☝🏻 over the past (same) five years:
Source: Visual Capitalist
In addition, the NACD just published a report on the number of women serving on public Boards of Directors, and it’s increased from 26% to 27% - a whopping 1% over the past year… slower growth than in previous years.
BTW: Governance may start at the Board level, but we’re here to tell you, it has to run through an entire organization. And here’s why: AI technology will run through an entire organization as well. And it’s happening NOW, with every investor and Board pushing to (as my friend Chris observed) “smear AI over everything.”
Let’s stop fooling ourselves. Act with urgency
It’s time for some significant impatience - especially given the accelerating need for smart, diverse and representative talent in technology. Talk to the kids in your life. Especially your daughters, granddaughters, nieces and their friends. Get them into STEM programs early. Encourage them to love puzzles… and not just word puzzles. (Although those who own great words will own great prompts in the future!)
Educate others as to the opportunities in tech. If you’re reading this post, it’s likely you’ve been involved in tech in some way… so spread the cheer! For more information about International Women’s Day, pop over here.
As for me and the group at AiGg, we teach as we go. Sometimes publicly, sometimes inside orgs, hoping this blog provokes critical thinking, and always with a heart open to possibilities. And I’m grateful and impressed by the women (and fabulous men!) I get to work with every single day.
Resources from AIGG on your AI Journey
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Reach out for more information and to begin the journey towards making AI work safely and advantageously for your organization. We are your partners as this next transformation unfolds. And bring the women along… we need you!
