As Women's Equality Day, celebrated annually on August 26th, approaches, it's important to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable strides made towards gender equality in the realm of Information Technology (IT). 

In an industry long dominated by men, the voices and perspectives of women have grown increasingly influential and vital.  This year, we heard from a number of talented and accomplished women in the IT community who provided their thoughts and insights on this momentous occasion. Their reflections not only serve as a testament to the progress achieved but also highlight the ongoing challenges and opportunities that lie ahead as we continue to champion gender equality within the tech world.

In this round-up article, we learn from their perspectives, experiences, and visions as we commemorate Women's Equality Day and the transformational role women play in shaping the future of IT.

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Teresa Rothaar, Governance, Risk And Compliance Analyst, Keeper Security

Women account for or influence the overwhelming majority of consumer purchasing decisions, with estimates ranging from 70% to 85%. If your tech company's leadership team doesn't reflect the demographics of your customer base, you'll end up designing products and services that don't meet their needs.

Similarly, an all-male or predominantly male leadership team can make it more difficult for tech companies to recruit female candidates, because even well-meaning but homogenous leadership teams can inadvertently design policies and promote company cultures that don't frequently meet the needs of female employees.

Meanwhile, women are completing college at higher rates than men. If your company wants to attract the best and brightest, diversity and inclusion can't just be buzzwords; they have to be baked into your organization's culture.

The explosion in remote work post-COVID probably did more to promote women's employment in the tech sector than even the most robust corporate DEI program. This is because women are more likely than men to be caregivers to minor children and elderly or sick adult family members. Remote work enables these women to balance their careers with their caregiving responsibilities. It also opened up opportunities that many women couldn't have seized before due to them not being able to pick up and move for a new job.

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Melissa Bischoping, Director of Endpoint Security Research, Tanium

We have decades of studies demonstrating that more diverse teams yield stronger outcomes and increase innovation. This requires bringing women into the workforce across all levels and creating opportunities for women to see someone who looks like them at varying levels of leadership.  By creating teams with greater diversity and actively removing employees who demonstrate bias or harassment, you spark a cultural change that grows more inclusive over time. This has a snowball effect of bringing the most diverse talent pool to your application portals, giving you the best chance of hiring innovators and leaders. The most successful professionals I know in this industry analyze the demographics of companies where they are considering applying to understand how they prioritize and demonstrate diversity across multiple minority groups. A diverse workforce signals to them that an organization is leading by example and not only hiring but also retaining a diverse culture.

I'm a huge supporter and advocate for identifying and recruiting from non-traditional tech pipelines.  I took a "scenic route" into technology, and my prior professional experiences in retail, medical transcription, sales, and customer service are all essential to the empathy and understanding I have for business problems today.  I have had immense success but found it challenging to even break in the door as a former single mother and career changer who completed college after many of her peers.  Recruit from community colleges and tech nonprofits who foster a community of research, practice, and skill-building to help close the talent gap. There are thousands of individuals like me from diverse non-traditional backgrounds who will be a force multiplier in your organization because of their drive and tenacity.  I'm a huge supporter of the National Cyber League, which allows high school and college students to demonstrate their proficiency in a range of cyber skills regardless of what university they can afford to attend.  Recruiters love the opportunity to directly engage NCL competitors for jobs because they have a verifiable report of their skills and knowledge and demonstrated commitment to learning and collaboration.

I've also worked with Women's Society of Cyberjutsu and WiCyS, both nonprofits which seek to create opportunities for mentorship, interview practice, skill building workshops, and public speaking opportunities across multiple career levels.  I have seen women from these organizations leverage these expansive networks to find new jobs, recruit talent, or identify growth opportunity.

Michelle McLean, VP of Marketing at Salt Security

Study after study shows how a more diverse group is able to brainstorm a more diverse set of solutions. But people's mindsets are understandably shaped by what they've seen - if they haven't seen women or people of color at the table, they don't recognize when they're missing. Tech will have more resources, more creativity, and more innovation driving it when more - and more different - people are shaping the conversation. When these voices have been absent, they must be consciously sought out, because otherwise people will simply "do it how it's always been done" and we'll never have the benefit of these new insights.

Most people need to see something to be able to imagine it happening. If you've never seen a woman leader in tech, it's hard to picture it. Mentorship is one key area, but even more valuable is active sponsorship. Mentoring can happen off to the side, behind the scenes. What women need is someone standing up in the room and actively putting their name on the list for new projects, to lead new research, to own an emerging discipline. This kind of sponsorship is how more women can own something and demonstrate their skills and, in turn, get considered for the NEXT project as well.

I've been lucky to have both women and men sponsor me in different areas. At one company, a woman pushed that I should lead a major initiative to build a customer engagement platform and advisory council. I had done some similar work before, but not at that same scope or with that level of executive visibility. At another company, a male colleague asked me to lead a technical session at a sales kick off that would have been run by a male peer - he thought that giving the team the chance to see me in action on that topic would inspire them to grant me credibility in two other areas my colleague wanted me to lead later in the year. He was planting the seeds for my future success by giving me the floor with that audience.

These kinds of opportunities are key to increasing visibility and credibility and getting "the next thing" assigned to you.

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Joni Klippert, CEO, StackHawk

Initiatives promoting gender equality and networking opportunities in tech not only uplift women professionals but also enrich the industry at large, propelling innovation and inclusion forward. By challenging traditional views of leadership, especially in R&D roles, which tend to be biased towards hands-on-keys engineering experience, and favoring customer development, pattern matching and leadership acumen, opens the door for high-value talent to fulfill roles that may have been previously reserved based on engineering-backed experience.

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Lauren Nagel, VP Product at StackHawk

Exploring the ever-changing world of technology has its tough moments, yet how we handle these hurdles shapes our journey ahead. I've experienced situations where my input struggled to be noticed in discussions across an organization. Teaming up with understanding colleagues who valued different perspectives taught me about the strength of standing together and supporting each other. This experience highlighted how essential clear communication and united voices are for making progress. I now continue to use my voice to uplift others, knowing how much it matters for career growth. Taking on the role of an advocate, I aim to give underrepresented voices more volume and promote inclusivity. The lessons I learned from overcoming challenges are now tools I share with fellow professionals, hoping to encourage a stronger and more diverse tech community. In every challenge, there's a chance to learn and grow. By working together, we can build a better future for all.

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Erin Dertouzos, Chief People Officer, StrongDM
 
Company leaders looking to celebrate and honor Women’s Equality Day should begin by reviewing their hiring processes. Restrictions, like requiring certain degrees, for example, can pose an unnecessary barrier.  I’ve encouraged recruiters to speak with hiring managers about whether the jobs they’re advertising for even need a degree in the first place. We’ve seen across various studies that women will refrain from applying to roles if they do not meet every single requirement. For women, seeing a job description and not fulfilling every aspect of the role can be an immediate deterrent. 

Furthermore, company hiring practices can provide quick insights into what diversity and culture are like. When you’re interviewing potential new hires, will the candidates you want to attract see others like them? Will they feel at ease, or might they feel tokenized? Seeing themselves reflected within your company can be an incentive to join your team.  If a woman is interviewing with a team comprised of all men, there may be a level of comfort and familiarity that could be missing. You could miss out on great talent because your teams aren’t built with them in mind. 

Finally, what is the interview environment like? I’ve experienced interview processes where women weren’t passing whiteboard engineering exercises at the same rate as their male counterparts, but a quick inspection of the surroundings provided a realization: male interviewers were positioned in front of the doorway throughout the experience, essentially blocking it. It was nothing purposeful but something we were completely in control of. After some shuffling of interviewees and the location, improvements came near instantly. Further, don’t be afraid to engage candidates and ask for feedback because we just don’t know what we don’t know. We ask all candidates for feedback after they’ve met with us, regardless of the outcome, because we want to ensure they have an opportunity to let us know if we fell down. Just like we survey our customers about their satisfaction, we want to ensure we’re listening to our candidates.
Company leaders must begin inspecting every step of the interview process and creating more spaces for diversity to flourish. This is how organizations will benefit in the long run and ultimately celebrate days like today with real meaning.

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