4 NOVEMBER2022Editor NoteWomen Tech Leaders Bring a Diverse Perspective Required to Solve the Contemporary World's Challenges The story of Samaira Mehta is fascinating. Samaira was hardly six when she first began coding. At the young age of 10 she developed CodderBunnyz, an AI driven board game for children to learn coding and became one of the youngest tech CEOsever. The young tech genius is truly a gifted individual with the drive to achieve greatness. Let's take a step back and imagine how things would have been had she not received the resources, guidance and encouragement from her immediate surroundings. While Samaira's talent and skill level would have remained the same, yet her success story might have been entirely different. Unfortunately, this is the reality for millions of girls in India and the world over. At a very young age girls lack the required opportunities, resources and support which in turn makes them believe that STEM is not a viable career path for them. According to a Cornell University research, gender differences can be observed in high school students' long term occupational plans. This is turn impacts gender equality in STEM outcomes in college. This phenomenon then manifests itself in a disproportionately gendered tech workforce. Although the number of women in entry level positions in tech has increased drastically, yet there exists a deep chasm when we look at top leadership roles such as CTOs and CIOs. A survey found that fewer than one in five chief information or technology officer positions at leading companies in the US is held by women. Over the past few years, women representation as CIOs or CTOs has experienced a marginal rise. In 2018, 16 percent of CIO/CTO roles were held by women, according to a Korn Ferry report. In today's world the role of the CTO is evolving drastically; from being geared towards research and development the role today focuses on strategic growth of an organization backed by technology solutions. In order to solve the complex and diverse tech problems of the world, the industry requires a diverse perspective. A monochromatic view will no longer cut it. Its high time, the industry and education system work hand in hand to get more women excited about STEM roles. Only then will women's representation of women in tech leadership roles improve and the world desperately needs this shift. Do let us know your thoughts. Rachita SharmaManaging Editor
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