The field of technology is dominated by men. This has been true for quite a long time. A male dominant field can cause various problems including lower innovation.This is clearly a problem for many groups. Two customer segments that are experiencing this problem are high school female students and companies.
High school female students are the future of the work force. What they learn and find interesting in high school tends to guide which field of work they end up in. In high school, female students need to be encouraged to pursue the field of technology. They need to be convinced that it is not a field for just men who lock themselves up in their parent’s basement coding all day long. Not understanding the fundamentals of technology will hinder females to be involved in the technologically advancing society. So many companies use technology today. This technology is getting used in every aspect of a company’s activities. With technology, things get done faster. With lack of women in technology, there is less chance for innovation in such companies. If more women are involved in technology, they can contribute to innovating new methods to make the available technology better, giving the company a competitive advantage. In a male dominated area, there is less chance of better innovation as compared to a more gender balance work environment.
A possible solution to combat this problem is to have after school technology related workshops and more courses available in STEM programs. Both high school female students and companies will benefit greatly from this.
More high school female students can start to get involved in the field of technology. High school female students will as a result understand the fundamentals of technology better and will see that anyone who works hard at it can understand it. It will also remove the misconception of a computer programmer being a male locked in his parent’s basement. With the positive results from high school, more women can pursue undergraduate studies in the field of technology and will be able to get a much more deeper understanding of technology. Female high school students will be able to be more involved in the technological era that we are living in right now. This way, female high school students will be able to cope up with the changing technological era.
With more female students understanding the workings of technology, companies will have a chance of getting a more gender balanced work environment. This would allow for more innovation to arise. Companies would greatly benefit from this increase in innovation. Work procedures would get more efficient, new ideas will arise and over all the companies will be promoting gender balance.
