Leadership belongs to those who take it.
-Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
There are low rates of women as chief executives, directors, founders, and leaders in political parties.
Women who plan to become future leaders or desire to be employed in the technology field need to think about HOW they will get there. It takes a lot of self-motivation and drive to get to the position of many successful women today. When there is a lack of peers and role models as well as struggle to overcome stereotypes, it is very hard for women to achieve greatness in any sector of the workforce. Rebecca Lovell, the Chair of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, has worked in software development and tech startups as the only woman on the team. Women and men together can bring a lot of challenges. Representation matters!
Lucy Sanders, Co-Founder and CEO of the National Center for Women and Information Technology, believes that women’s under-representation as technology entrepreneurs and leaders can be accomplished if people recognized women’s contributions to technical value creation and if gender inclusion in the tech industry would improve. Gender biases and lack of gender diversity are apparent causes to the gender disparity in the workforce.
Among these sectors, women-founded businesses are growing mainly in the IT industry. But, when each sector is broken down to a detailed industry, the percentages vary. Software is the largest industry in the IT sector where women founders are under-represented.
- Know what you want and plan how to get there.
- Constraints and roadblocks could be opposing opinions, stereotypes, and many naysayers.
- Set your milestones and achieve them through experiences and personal development.
Women in Technology and Leadership 