In the C-suites of major tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, women often occupy roles such as Chief of Finance, Chief of People, or Chief of Marketing, yet female tech CEOs remain scarce. Whitney Herd, founder of Bumble, notes that “Women chief executives face higher expectations than their male counterparts.” Bumble’s current CEO, Lidiane Jones, echoes this sentiment, emphasizing, “We need to leverage the resilience we’ve developed, as opportunities are more difficult to obtain.”
In 2023, startups with female-only founders secured a mere 2% of U.S. venture capital funding, while mixed-gender leadership teams attracted 20.7%. Melanie Perkins, the founder of Canva, underscores this gap, revealing that it took her three years to secure venture capital. The challenge is further compounded by the underrepresentation of women in venture capital, where only 11% of investing partners at U.S. VC firms are women.
Tech companies experience a more pronounced gender pay gap compared to other sectors. A study in the UK revealed that men in tech earn 16% more than their female counterparts. Furthermore, Levy economists found that women perform nearly 80% of unpaid household and caregiving tasks. The culture of expected overtime disproportionately impacts women with family responsibilities, creating additional challenges in balancing work and personal life.
These obstacles contribute to the high turnover rate among women in tech. In 2024, 31% of women are contemplating leaving their tech positions, signaling that the industry is at risk of losing valuable talent if these issues are not addressed.
Making Tech an Industry Where Women Choose to Stay
According to Techopedia, women hold 43% of entry-level positions in the software industry, but this figure drops to just 30% in SVP and C-suite roles. This highlights a significant gap between women entering the tech workforce and reaching top leadership positions. At Neforemost, we’ve observed a steady increase in female applicants, with a 43% rise in 2021-22 and an additional 11% increase the following year.
Despite this influx of female candidates, women in tech still tend to leave their roles more frequently than men, creating a barrier to achieving top positions. To address this, it’s crucial to explore how tech can cultivate more inclusive environments that support and advance women.
We spoke with female engineers and tech professionals at Netforemost about the obstacles they’ve encountered in their careers. Here, we share their experiences and discuss strategies to make tech an industry where women can truly thrive.
Give Women Equal Opportunities
There’s a widespread belief that women must work harder to prove their value. A QA engineer remarked, “There’s a bias, even if unconscious, that a woman’s work is not as high quality. It takes longer to get the chance to demonstrate your skills, which is crucial for advancing in the field.”
Engineering managers should be more willing to take risks on women. Success, much like in sports betting, cannot be predicted solely by statistics. For instance, Rocío Belfore became NetForemost’s Chief Innovation Officer before turning 30. She credits her rapid advancement to working in a supportive environment that values diverse perspectives, which she believes is essential for women’s progress in the tech industry.
Standardize Paths to Leadership Positions
A software engineer noted, “There’s a lack of clear promotion plans. While this issue isn’t unique to tech, roles in fields like education have well-defined paths for promotions and raises. In tech, the process is often unclear.”
Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta, highlighted in her book Lean In that to ascend to top positions, one must “negotiate like a man.” However, she also points out that women perceived as aggressive or ambitious often face social penalties, whereas men with similar traits are typically praised. To prevent women from lagging in promotional opportunities, establishing a standardized path to management and leadership roles is essential.
Implement Flexible Work Policies and Upskilling Practices
Our engineers see tech as a promising field for women, thanks to its remote-work benefits, but there’s a catch. The fast-paced nature of the tech industry often leaves little time for upskilling.
One of our software engineers notes that while remote work flexibility helps women balance home and family responsibilities, these tasks are still not evenly shared. She believes that “to advance in technology, we need to continually study programming languages, best practices, and new releases. Women must be given the time and opportunity to upskill at work.”
While flexible policies can attract women to tech, it’s essential to also provide access to courses and mentorship to help them advance in their careers. Long hours and the absence of company-funded upskilling opportunities can hinder female tech professionals’ progress. Consequently, women may leave for more supportive industries or fail to reach leadership positions.
Identify Part-time Opportunities for Female Talent
Many women opt for part-time roles during the early years of motherhood, largely due to high childcare costs. However, the tech industry often favors full-time positions because the work typically demands continuous project involvement and deeper team integration.
Yet, autonomous tech workers and outsourcing companies, which bill clients by the hour, can leverage this model to offer part-time, flexible roles. For instance, positions like fractional CTO could provide women balancing family and career with opportunities to advance their leadership skills while working part-time.
To address the ongoing imbalance in family and household responsibilities, it’s crucial to rethink traditional tech structures. By creating roles that accommodate flexible schedules, we can retain female talent and facilitate their career progression. Let’s explore actionable strategies to overcome these challenges.
4 Actions to Nurture Female Tech Talent into Leadership
If we have more women at the starting line, we’ll see more women crossing the finish line. Just like any top athlete, women need the right tools and support to excel and avoid falling behind. Usain Bolt didn’t race to victory in a pair of Converse sneakers.
Shifting the Mindset of Male Colleagues in the Tech Industry
As noted by our interviewees, women often face different treatment compared to their male counterparts on tech teams. A QA engineer emphasized the need to change the industry’s mindset regarding gender. She stated, “Men need to recognize that we’re not here to overshadow their roles. Diversity is valuable because women offer heightened attention to detail and a fresh perspective. There’s often an assumption of ‘Did she get promoted because she is female?’ Men need to understand that we can perform and collaborate effectively without special treatment.”
To shift this mentality, it’s crucial to elevate women tech professionals. Publicly recognizing the roles and contributions of women in software projects can be a powerful starting point. For instance, showcasing women’s achievements and their impact on project success can challenge existing biases, especially when supported by female leadership.
2. Introducing Policies to Get More Women Into Tech
To ensure fairness without creating excessive advantages for women, companies can adopt policies that level the playing field. One such policy is mandatory gender pay reporting. In the UK, employers with 250 or more employees are required to report their gender pay gap, which promotes transparency and discourages pay disparities based on gender.
Additionally, companies could implement quotas for women in leadership positions. For example, HP has committed to achieving 50% gender equality in director-level and above roles by 2030. In 2021, California enacted a law mandating at least two women on corporate boards, which increased female representation to 33.33% by 2022. However, the law was later overturned, causing the representation rates to drop below one-third. A balanced approach that combines quotas, affirmative action, and transparency about the reasons behind promotions and hires could be effective.
3. Empowering Women through Mentorship and Community
Our female engineers, Scrum Masters, and QA professionals are seeking high-quality mentorship to explore new technologies, assume new roles, and gain valuable experience. A Scrum Master highlighted the significance of having mentors who provide honest feedback, saying, “They are inspirational and help build your confidence. I transitioned from PHP to RoR with guidance from a NetForemost mentor.”
Top tech companies will have upskilling programs, knowledge-sharing policies, and mentors to support the growth of all developers, including women. At NetForemost, our internal community, The Circles, provides a platform where tech professionals at all levels can discuss challenges and tech trends.
One member of The Circles, a Scrum Master, shared, “I’ve had access to exceptional tech leads who guide me and explain the rationale behind their decisions, which helps me understand and learn as well.”
Companies with open communication channels and dedicated spaces for knowledge sharing foster a more inclusive environment. By implementing these practices, we can reduce the number of women leaving the industry and increase the likelihood of women advancing to leadership roles, creating a more equitable environment for all.
4. Illustrating Women in Tech to Younger Generations
Addressing prejudice from the start involves encouraging girls to code and making equal representation in the classroom a norm for future developers.
A Scrum Master shared that her nieces were intrigued by her tech career and the benefits she enjoys. “It has allowed me to show them that they can pursue what’s often seen as a ‘boy’s’ job. I explain what they can do to enter tech, emphasizing that the sooner they get involved, the better their career prospects.”
Our Giveback program supports this mission by donating to NGOs focused on increasing opportunities in tech for individuals from diverse backgrounds. We have contributed to organizations like Black Girls Code, Girls in Tech, and WomenX in Power, all dedicated to helping girls from underprivileged communities enter the tech industry.
Conclusion
The objective is to boost the number of women in top decision-making roles such as CTOs, CIOs, and CEOs, which will drive meaningful change in the industry. Diverse decision-makers are better equipped to address biases in technology effectively.
Achieving this requires a comprehensive strategy. Companies should focus on upskilling female engineers in key technologies and consider implementing diversity quotas for entry-level and executive positions. Enhancing work-life balance for women, particularly those with family responsibilities, is also crucial. Improvements in managerial attitudes, benefits packages, and flexible role options are necessary steps.
By committing to these changes, we can reshape the tech industry into a more attractive field for women and potentially transform the landscape within this generation.
