Impact of Women Leaders

The technology sector drives our daily lives. In this traditionally male-dominated industry, women are emerging as changemakers by challenging traditional norms and elevating companies with their unique leadership qualities. Studies are proving how women leaders enhance collaboration, increase productivity, inspire organizational dedication, and improve fairness.

Holding a place for women in the C-Suite is no longer just desirable, but proven to be necessary.  Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, has been the driving force behind this social media giant’s growth and success.  Sandberg has helped build Facebook into one of the most powerful and influential tech companies around the globe.  She is a fierce advocate for women empowerment and has used her platform to raise awareness about the challenges women face in the workplace.

Despite recent gender equality advancements, women are still underrepresented in the tech industry, making up only 25% of the computing workforce (according to a report by the National Center for Women and Information Technology) and only lead about 10% of Fortune 500 Companies.  Their contributions are reshaping the sector, fostering diversity and inclusion, and breaking pre-established barriers to take companies to new heights. So why aren’t more women promoted or hired into these leadership roles?  

Challenges Women Face

Below highlights three of the biggest hurdles women face as they navigate this landscape.

1.     Unconscious Bias

These societal perceptions can impact different facets of a woman's professional journey, including hiring processes, project assignments, promotion opportunities, and day-to-day workplace interactions.

Unconscious bias can show up in many ways. For example, a woman being talked over in meetings or being constantly interrupted. Or a male colleague acting shocked when a woman makes a significant contribution. These acts can erode confidence, preventing women from sharing valuable information or realizing their full potential. 

2.     Gender Stereotyping

Facing gender stereotyping in the tech sector is another huge hurdle women face. An example of this is the misconception that women lack competence or technical skills that would make them unfit for roles such as engineers or developers.  There’s the prevailing notion that women are more emotional than men, fostering assumptions they may struggle with high-pressure situations or are better suited for support and administrative positions.

You also see greater career advancement for males during critical childbearing years for women. The assumption that women will stay home to raise children can stunt the ability to receive promotions or be selected for certain leadership roles.

3.    Gender Pay Gap

Another significant challenge women experience in the tech industry is the gender pay gap. According to this report by Statista, using significant data from a wide array of sources, women in tech received an astounding 3.5 percent less salary than men in the same job at the same company.

Although this number has consistently been reduced over the years as companies are educating themselves on market rates and implementing measures to address this issue, such as transparent compensation policies and merit-based pay increases, the pay disparity continues to have an impact on job satisfaction and career progression for women in tech.

Even with these difficulties, women are continuing to break down barriers and promote change.

So Why Do Women Make Better Leaders?

Decades of psychology and extensive research confirm that when women are empowered to take on leadership, it proves to be transformational for everyone.  In a 2020 meta-analysis based on data from 16 nationally representative public opinion polls with more than 30,000 adults, Eagly’s report proved that women are now seen as equally or more competent as men in leadership.

Personality Traits

• Out of the 8 major personality traits by world-renowned psychologist Carl Jung, women rank better than or equal to men in 7 (according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center). Half of the survey respondents ranked women as more honest than men and 30% voted they are equally as honest, while only 20% said men rank as more honest than women. Women were also ranked as more creative, compassionate, outgoing, and intelligent.

Improved Team Collaboration

• According to a study conducted by organizational psychologist Anita Williams Woolley, PhD, team collaboration is greatly improved by the presence of women in the group. The study examined groups of two to five people and revealed that the proportion of women in a group was strongly related to the group’s collective intelligence (or their ability to work together and solve a wide range of problems). The study also found that groups with more women exhibited greater equality in conversation, giving other members a chance to make the best use of their knowledge and skills.

Reducing Organizational Stereotypes 

• By using natural language processing techniques to analyze more than 43,000 shareholder documents and investor calls, researchers found that appointing women to the top tiers of management can help mitigate deep-rooted stereotypes that are expressed in language. The study proved that hiring female Chief Executive Officers and board members directly correlated to an organization’s use of language, wiping away the stereotype and trade-off between women being perceived as either competent or likable. 

​​Turning the Tables: Examples of Women Driving Innovation

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has become one of the most actively evolving fields of technology, and women are spearheading advancements in this domain. Their involvement spans critical areas such as crafting user interfaces, molding training datasets, formulating algorithms, and conceptualizing human-like interactions. Fei-Fei Li, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab director and AI4ALL co-founder, showcases this influence through substantial contributions to ImageNet, a pivotal venture shaping deep learning algorithms for visual recognition. Joy Buolamwini, a Computer Scientist and Founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, is another influential figure dedicated to unveiling biases in AI algorithms. Her research underscores the imperative to address disparities in AI development, particularly in facial recognition algorithms grappling with gender and racial bias.

Data Security

Ensuring safety and data privacy is increasingly crucial in our digital era, and women are playing a significant role in advancing capabilities. Parisa Tabriz, known as the "Security Princess" at Google, leads efforts to secure Google's products and services with innovative problem-solving in complex security issues. Tabriz advocates for increased diversity, especially for women and people of color, in cybersecurity. Another influential figure is Lorrie Cranor, a Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the director of the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory. Cranor focuses on developing privacy-enhancing technologies and enhancing technology usability and accessibility.

Despite facing numerous challenges such as unconscious bias, gender stereotypes, and the gender pay gap, women are proving to rise above and become transformational leaders in the male-dominated tech industry. As we continue to address these challenges head-on, it's essential to remember that the route toward gender equality in IT is one we must all share. By promoting this position and acknowledging the benefits of women in tech we are not only altering the industry, but laying the groundwork for a brighter and more inclusive digital future.