Technology Needs More Females

For many companies IT is emerging from a secure room (size varies) with blinking lights, cables and boxes to a competitive differentiator for many companies.  IT is now part of many key company initiatives.

IT departments need more than good programmers and project managers these days to be successful. Many IT departments are moving from an order taker to a service provider.  With this evolution, new roles are evolving and new levels and expectations are emerging.

There is an excellent opportunity to integrate more diversity into IT now than ever before.  The benefits of additional diversities (backgrounds, educations and experience) are often new ideas and new perspectives.  This, of course, takes leadership within an organization to make these organizational investments a reality.

As the founder of Tech Savvy Women, I am often called on for reference, leads, and placements.  Over the last two years, I have received at least five calls asking specifically for women candidates for IT positions.

In the United States, the aggregate percentage of female directors is just over 12%. (source below)

 A growing body of evidence strongly suggests that companies with women serving on their boards of directors and in senior management positions outperform those that do not. Socially conscious investors may be particularly interested in the fact that observed out performance goes beyond financial indicators. Increased representation of women on boards appears to strengthen corporate social responsibility records, improve integration into the communities where the companies operate and put a stronger focus on long-term sustainability issues. (source below)

My hypothesis is based on real-world experience combined with industry research is that if companies as a whole have measure financial impact by incorporating women, IT can surely find relevant benefits too.