Lack of Diversity Hurts Women and Tech

Women are greatly underrepresented in the tech industry. If this trend continues, women will have a much lower chance of holding influential positions and will fall behind economically. The lack of women in tech also hurts the industry itself. According to the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT), «Groups with greater diversity solve complex problems better and faster than do homogenous groups, and the presence of women in a group is more likely to increase the collective intelligence of the group.»

Many initiatives are being taken to encourage more women to enter the tech industry, including the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC). «One of the more inspiring experiences of my career was attending [GHC], simply because it was a convention centre full of females excited about technology,» writes Karin Verspoor, an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. «Who knew there were so many of us?»

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