Post written by
Bob Davis
Bob Davis, CMO at Plutora, began his career as an engineer and now has more than 30 years experience leading high technology companies.
Bob Davis , 
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In the first issue of Forbes in 1917, an article ran about a "wife’s place in business" following the Convention of Wives of Salesmen of the National Cash Register Company. The article specifically notes, the wives “cared more for trips through the various departments of the factory, to demonstrations of how to approach a prospective customer, for exhibits of the working of the latest machines than for the purely social features of the convention. They were not a frivolous body. Each woman seemed to be anxious to learn rather than to be amused.”
The writer -- B.C. Forbes himself -- suggested that it may signal a "valuable step forward" for the advancement of women. But few would argue that the following 100 years offered slow progress -- and the current renewed pressure for gender equality has sparked much-needed momentum. But where does the tech sector, which sees itself as enlightened and forward-thinking, stand in the scheme of things?
Well, the tech industry is great at trends; it’s in a constant state of innovation where creating and following trends is a huge part of corporate strategy. It’s odd, therefore, that gender equality has seen less momentum than it should. From #MeToo to #HeForShe, the UN and respected tech commentators are all looking to the tech industry to use the industrious innovation skills they put into their products to tackle the issue of diversifying the industry.
What The Statistics Say
But a recent report based on tech companies’ diversity numbers reveals that "female employees make up between 26% (Microsoft) and 43% (Netflix) of the workforce at major tech companies, with the percentage dropping much lower when it comes to actual tech jobs.”
Some other statistics that highlight the gap in equality in tech include:
• Only 25% of IT jobs are held by women.
• Women own only 5% of tech startups.
• Of the proprietary software jobs, only 28% are held by women.
• Female executives only make up 11% of the total at Fortune 500 companies.
The reality of these statistics is that an industry that has always prided itself in leading the way is falling short of being a good example in terms of gender equality. However, despite all of these statistics, I believe from personal experience that there are pockets of the tech community that are leading the charge.
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