Why Women in Tech Matter
The tech industry is a rapidly growing industry. According to a report (external link, opens in new window) by the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (BIIE), approximately 5.1% of the Canadian labour force in 2016 comprised of 935 000 Canadians employed in tech occupations. However, there still remains a large gender disparity in this workforce sector. According to a 2018 report (external link, opens in new window) by Women in Communications and Technology, women only accounted for 26.7% of the Canadian Information, Communications and Technology workforce. The BIIE also found that women earn less than $20 000k (external link, opens in new window) than their male counterparts in the tech industry. This is an issue that the tech industry needs to address. Here is why women in tech should matter:
1. Women Are a Driving Force for Business Growth
Women impact and build businesses that are both profitable and large. According to data (external link, opens in new window) from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), startups founded and co-founded by women performed better than their male counterparts by generating 10% more in cumulative revenue in five years amounting to $730 000 in comparison with $662 000. In terms of financial investment, these startups also generated 78 cents for every dollar of funding received compared to 31 cents produced by male-founded startups. According to a study (opens in new window) of 600 business decisions made by 200 different business teams, inclusive teams deliver 60% better results and make better business decisions 87% of the time. This demonstrates that women’s participation in the workforce highly impacts the success of businesses over time.
2. Women have Purchasing Power and Influence in Spending
It is estimated that women control over $20 trillion in worldwide spending (external link, opens in new window) . Thus, it is important to involve women in the conversation because they have tremendous influence over the purchase of products and services. According to the Harvard Business Review (external link, opens in new window) , women make the purchasing decisions of 51% of consumer electronics, 60% of automobiles, 92% of vacations, 94% of home furnishings and 91% of homes. Lastly, 91% of women feel misunderstood by advertisers (external link, opens in new window) . It is thereby important that women are included in making decisions on the development of products and services as they fall into the target market of consumers making purchases, which makes them experts in targeting various demographics.
Source: Fortune (external link)
Not only is it important to realize that women bring value to the tech industry but that active measures must be taken to increase their involvement in this sector. This includes making efforts to invest in female founded startups. According to Fortune (external link, opens in new window) , women-led startups received only 2.2% of venture capital dollars that was invested in startups throughout 2017. Empowering women to pursue careers in tech is crucial towards paving the way for further technological innovation in the future. This has merits as $28 trillion (external link, opens in new window) can be added to the global GDP in the next seven years through empowering women’s global involvement in the workforce.