Women have a distinct disadvantage in so many male-dominated industries, particularly science and technology. They’re far less likely to land a high-level position and even if they do, they often won’t be paid as much. It’s clear that this is a problem and although we’re starting to address it, there are still those out there that claim that women just aren’t suited to these industries and they aren’t as effective as men in those jobs. There’s absolutely no truth in that argument and anybody that thinks that there is should take a look at this list of the most influential women in the tech industry right now.
Marissa Mayer
The heads of the biggest tech companies in the world tend to be men. Tim Cook, and before him, Steve Jobs at Apple; Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, and Sundar Pichai at Google. But does that mean that only men have the skills and knowhow to head a huge tech company? Absolutely not. At just 37 years old, Marissa Mayer is the new head of Yahoo. She graduated with honours from Stanford University with a degree in computer science before going on to work for Google as an executive and spokesperson for the company. She was one of the tech giant’s first employees and spent 13 years there. Those qualifications and experience helped her to land her role as head of one of the biggest tech companies in the world. She resigned in 2017 when Yahoo was sold off to Verizon but is still considered one of the biggest figures in tech right now.
Sallie Krawcheck
The finance world is another industry that has a systemic equality problem. When somebody says investment bankers, you’re probably picturing one big boy’s club full of bravado and misogynistic behavior, and you’d be right most of the time. But Sallie Krawcheck didn’t let that stop her from carving out her place as a pioneer in both the finance and the tech industry simultaneously. She is the creator of the first roboadvisor for women; a roboadvisor is a piece of software that helps people to analyze stock market data and make informed decisions about investments. Not only is she a pioneer in the tech and finance industry, she’s also created a piece of software to inspire other women to break into a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Sheryl Sandberg
While Mark Zuckerberg is still the CEO of Facebook, for now, he shares his throne with one of the most powerful women in the tech world; Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook after working as the vice president of global sales at Google. When she elected by existing board members at Facebook, she became the first-ever woman to serve on their board of directors. On top of all of that, she is the founder of leanin.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women overcome prejudice in male-dominated industries, particularly the tech industry, and achieve their goals.
These are just 3 of the many amazing women making waves in the tech industry so next time somebody tells you that women aren’t suited to those kinds of jobs, ignore them. All women can train in science and technology fields and be a success.
