The tech industry has always been a male dominated world, but these incredible woman influencers have been changing that. This article is about women in tech.
Even in today's modern, 21st-century world, the facts about women in the technological industry can be disheartening. Women remain underrepresented across a wide range of technology-related fields. For example, in 2017, women were minorities in fields including computer programmers, software developers, web developers, and virtually all engineering fields.
While it would be easy to get discouraged by statistics like those, there are plenty of women influencers in tech to look to for inspiration. Slowly but surely, these women have been changing the perception that the tech industry is a male-dominated world where women can't be successful.
Below, we have highlighted ten female influencers who have made their mark in various technology fields. Their work is inspiring, and we're taking a closer look at their backgrounds, their career paths, and their accomplishments.
1. Debbie Sterling
Debbie Sterling is one of the most important women influencers in tech fields because of the way she is encouraging the next generation of future tech leaders, As the founder and CEO of Goldieblox, Sterling is making engineering and technology fields relevant to girls from a young age.Sterling started Goldieblox out of frustration that there were so few building and engineering toys that were designed for girls. Marketing for these types of products is almost exclusively focused on boys. Goldieblox products allow girls to explore tech-related skills in a way that is creative, fun, and relevant to them.
2. Whitney Wolfe
As one of the original co-founders of Tinder, Whitney Wolfe made her mark in the dating app world early on. But it was what she did after Tinder that makes her one of the women influencers to take inspiration from.
Wolfe figured out a way to making the dating app scene more female-friendly when she founded Bumble. With Bumble, only women have the power to start a conversation with someone else on the app.It's an innovation that empowers women and has made Wolfe's name in tech.
3. Kimberly Bryant
Improving technological education is crucial to encouraging young women and girls to get involved in tech fields. Kimberly Bryant knew that, and in 2011, she founded Black Girls Code.
In her current role of Executive Director Bryant oversees the organization, which focuses on teaching girls of colour to develop apps and learn computer programming. Though it started in San Francisco, Black Girls Code is now in cities across the U.S. and in South Africa.
4. Erica Baker
Erica Baker's resume is enough to make her an influential woman in the technology field. After several years as an engineer at Slack, a tech company that creates collaboration tools for businesses--Baker recently became Senior Engineering Manager at Patreon.
In addition to her inspiring career, Baker's influence can be felt through the advocacy work she does to ensure that STEM fields are inclusive of women and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
5. Gwynne Shotwell
Elon Musk is the well-known name behind SpaceX, but Gwynne Shotwell is the name behind Elon Musk.
As the President and CEO of SpaceX, Shotwell could easily be considered one of the world's top female rocket scientists. Her daily responsibilities are diverse and could include everything from overseeing an upcoming launch to preparing a spacecraft for a trip to Mars to strategizing company growth.
6. Jini Kim
Women influencers in tech have an uncanny ability to identify a problem and create an innovation that can help to solve it. That's exactly what Jini Kim did.
Inspired by her brother's autism and the limitations that she saw within the Medicaid system, Kim started healthy analytics company Nuna. The company analyzes how effectively Medicaid is responding to the needs of hundreds of patients.
Kim drew on her background as a product manager with Google and used it to start a tech company that addressed something personal to her.
7. Jennifer Pahlka
Jennifer Pahlka's work has not just changed technology for one city or one state. As the US Deputy Chief Technology Officer from 2013-2014, Pahlka influenced the tech space of the entire country.
Currently, Pahlka is known for her work as the Founder and Executive Director of Code for America. The company works to pair technologically skilled people with local governments so they can help cities address community problems and overcome challenges.
8. Marissa Mayer
Today, Marissa Mayer is well-known for being the CEO of Yahoo, but her past job title is equally impressive. In 1999, Mayer became one of Google's earliest employees and one of the company's first female engineers.
At Google, Mayer worked on products like Google Maps, Gmail, ad Google Earth, and she is likely applying that same design thinking to the challenges and operational questions she faces every day at Yahoo.
9. Rosalind Picard
As a Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rosalind Picard is in a position of influence over many young minds. Her work and reputation provide she is the right person to be guiding them.
Most people aspire to contribute to the field of computer science. Picard is credited with starting an entirely new branch of it, called affective computing. In 1997 she published a book about this work, and from there, affective computing took off.
10. Yoky Matsuoka
As the Chief Technology Officer at Nest, Yoky Matsuoka works on building products that impact people's daily lives. The company is best known for its thermostats, which can adjust the temperature in someone's home based on their unique habits.
Matsuoka's real passion, however, is for artificial intelligence and robotics, and her work has earned her a MacArthur "genius" fellowship. It's likely that she will bring her knowledge of that space to Nest, and continue to build smart products that can be used to improve the daily lives of people everywhere.
Want to Learn More About Women Influencers?
The landscape of the technology field is changing, but it will take more strong, smart women influencers like the ones above to make that happen. Sharing the stories of those who have come before can inspire the next generation of women to enter tech fields.
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