In honor of International Women’s Day, I am writing to discuss a topic seldom discussed among professionals. Women.
It's true we talk about women all the time, but not about how amazing they are as professionals. I believe in many ways they represent the most untapped potential in our world.
In the world I live in, the tech world, the number of women (and people of color) in leading roles is unfortunately low. You don’t have to go far to get the stats and reasons. They’ve been reported by several organizations in several ways, including:
I am the product of a strong woman. My mother is an immigrant who, through sheer grit, worked for over 35 years in the most menial of jobs to help provide me and my four siblings an amazing opportunity. All five of us (two of them women) completed university and have professions we are passionate about. She endured a society that was not nearly as embracing of women as it is today. And, to say we’ve improved is not saying much. I am married to an amazing woman (who makes me a better man every day) and have a daughter who will grow up in a world where gender equality still is not a reality. I really give lots of thought daily to what principles I have to teach her to help her become a future leader in society.
When I look at my professional career, I have had the pleasure of meeting some pretty impressive women. In fact, these relationships have become some of the most rewarding for me. (I won’t make a list, you all know who you are. )
When I consider the challenge of moving closer to true gender equality and the presence of women (and people of color) in the tech workplace, I believe it starts with everyone, especially my male counterparts, to give it CPU cycles. Here is a short list of things we can do:
(1) Start with the young ones - Think about how you can help young women get into the tech field.
(2) Look at your team - What is your goal for the makeup your team as it relates to gender balance? Do you have one?
(3) Track the data - We have all become data hounds. We should collect the data wherever we are, because as with any other challenge, analyzing it will help us to improve the situation.
(4) Put your money where your mouth is - There is no reason a woman should get paid differently than a man in the same role. Period.
(5) CPU - As a leader, think about how you can help balance the scale here and take action.
Please wish your friends and colleagues a happy International Women’s Day.
To learn more about International Women’s Day, visit https://www.internationalwomensday.com.
This blog post previously appeared in LinkedIn Pulse.