How We Can Address Tech’s Female Leadership Gap

I used to not think of myself as a “woman in tech” — I was simply someone who worked in technology and happened to be a woman. Most of us do not want to be perceived by our gender in our profession but rather want to be recognized by our quality of work. But as companies like Twitter and Google started announcing the (small) percentages of their staff who are women, I’ve realized we can no longer afford to continue the status quo in how we think about women in tech.

We’re all aware that women are underrepresented in the field. But what’s even more troubling is the leadership gap: Recent Gartner research revealed that only 22% of IT leaders are women.

I’m part of that 22%. As a CTO, I’m also a member of an even smaller group of female C-suite tech executives (which another Gartner study found hovers around 13%). That’s not only unfortunate but also dangerous. Without women in senior roles, we have no hope of closing the tech gender gap — not to mention, we’re missing out on untold innovative thinkers and ideas.

So, how do we work toward closing this gap?

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