Diversity in the Technical Workforce

January 24th, 2016

What do Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google all have in common?

Over 80% of men occupy the technology jobs at these companies (last updated November 24, 2015, source: http://graphics.wsj.com/diversity-in-tech-companies/ (Links to an external site.)).

This is not breaking news. Technical jobs have been held by a majority of men for a long time but currently the marketplace is addressing these issues. Companies now report statistics of their employee force and try to bolster their percentage of female employees. Part of the difficulty comes from women not pursuing technical fields because its not encouraged or even thought about as a viable career choice. I have 4 sisters and I am the only one pursuing the technical field. My mother and sisters are in healthcare and customer service fields which means I did not have that encouragement from them (although no discouragement either).

This disparity between the genders is being addressed by technical companies now such as Intel whose CEO Brian Krzanich who announced they will have diversified their workforce by 2020. Companies need to recognize that to diversify their workforce, they need to hire outside of the norm.

Our education is where we can encourage girls and women to pursue STEM fields. I believe education can help towards changing attitudes and beliefs that STEM fields are just naturally male-driven. Karlie Kloss, the supermodel, has even set up a "Kode with Karlie" scholarship that encourages teen girls an opportunity to explore computer programming. I myself have take part of LaunchCoderGirl based in my hometown, St. Louis, that helps women learn computer programming.