Every year there is a growing emphasis on issues like women empowerment and women equality. Yet, despite being in the third decade of the 21st century, we are far for achieving the same when it comes to representation of women in technology. As the world races towards digital transformation, it often ignores the percentage of women who are at the forefront of driving this change. Though recruiting more women into technology is an obvious solution, the actual figures fail to reflect it. In its recent report titled, "Women in the Workplace 2019", McKinsey points that gender imbalances emerge from as early as the first promotion point where women account for 48% of entry-level hires but only 38% of first-level managers, with an apparent knock-on effect for equality in higher positions. The pioneer of the technology revolution in computer science, IBM, had its first female VP (Ruth Leach) back in 1943. Fast forward to now, even tech giants like Google, Facebook do not have appreciable gender diversity.

The lack of female representation in management on the tech index mirrors the lack of female representation across the tech industry in general. If one has to consider region and race wise distribution, statistics are not promising either, with white women getting a higher share of employment and representation. According to another McKinsey report, "Closing the tech gender gap through philanthropy and corporate social responsibility," while women of color account for nearly 16% of the general population, they comprise only around 4% of technical roles in tech companies. Also, they are almost entirely absent at the senior leadership level, with zero black or Latina women CEOs of Fortune 500 tech companies. This is alarming because there is enough research literature that highlights how higher gender diversity can be beneficial for companies in the long run.

The dearth of women in tech positions is often attributed to a lack of enthusiasm for technology-oriented subjects at graduation level and high dropouts. Apart from that, unfairness or mistreatment within a work environment is also cited to be a major reason why women do not continue their careers in this sector. In 2017, Kapor Center for Social Impact and Harris Poll discovered that quitting jobs due to unfair treatment caused companies to lose more than US$16 billion per year.

Researchers from Stanford have observed more than 75 recruiting sessions held by more than 60 companies and identified countless seemingly obvious ways the recruiters alienate female candidates. They also found out that women are prone to sexist jokes, hostile macho culture, and are not given an opportunity to show their presentation. In their study, researchers further noticed that hiring managers tend to hire recruits who are culturally similar to them, thus resulting in more hiring stats of white males if the recruiting committee is comprised of white male elites. Tech pundits claim that they face real, immediate costs due to a lack of inclusion and diversity. This loss can be observed in lost stock value, lower market share, HR costs, and public relations costs, among others.

Meanwhile, the reason behind meager numbers in female students opting for a STEM career is either lack of encouragement, active discouragement, lack of role models, or negative peer pressure and harassment. Plus, females from under-represented groups face prejudice twice over, both against their gender and their race. This is the reason why demographics are poor in Asian, African nations.

The calls for more female participation in the economy are growing louder; leaders on all verticals and tiers of industries are realizing that gender diversity has the ability to impact business bottom lines. Equality and empowerment need to be implemented in real life by anchoring these values in the company's mission. Women must not be misled with baseless dogmas that they are not wired for a technical career. In addition to that, discussion and awareness among the women about the prospects and benefits of a career in the technological field need to be amped up. In the organization sector, the hiring team must embrace values and diversity besides talent and skills in their main selection criteria. It is high time to acknowledge that diverse perspectives can create resilient growth strategies and lead to better leadership values.