7 Reasons Why its Better to Be a Woman in Tech
I want more women in technology and entrepreneurship as much as anyone. But at the same time I think that we tend to undervalue the power of being in the minority. Its important to acknowledge the opportunities that come with being a woman in this industry, rather than focusing on those aspects that might make it less than ideal.
Here are 7 Reasons Why its Better to Be a Woman in Tech.
1) You stand out.
When you’re one of only a handful of women at an event, or sometimes even the only woman, like it or not you get noticed. As an entrepreneur this can be a huge advantage. I think most entrepreneurs or ambitious people in general would rather get noticed then blend into the crowd. I say, use the attention to your advantage. Oh, and be ready for it, because if you find yourself in the spotlight its sometimes nice if you have something to say…
2) People remember your name.
In line with the last point, if you stand out and get noticed people are more likely to remember your name. If you meet 40 men and 3 women at an event, aren’t you more likely to remember the details of your conversation with the 3 women? And it isn’t even a gender thing; if the numbers were reversed wouldn’t you be more likely to remember the men? Anything that gets your name remembered certainly makes that follow-up email a whole lot easier!
3) You make a better story.
I hope that one day a woman starting a tech company will not be front-page news. However the sad, but honest, truth is that it still is. Michael Arrington has stated outright that TechCruch actively seeks out women focused events and startups to cover. Until the day that female founded startups are par for the course, women in tech have a huge advantage when it comes to media. Let’s face it, you make a better story.
4) People want to hire you, investors want you in their portfolio.
Our industry is hyper aware of the gender gap. There are lots of tech companies out there that, even a few years in, have no women on the team. Even fewer companies have women in technical roles. Are these companies sexist? From my experience, the answer is overwhelmingly, NO. If a qualified female candidate showed up tomorrow they would welcome her with open arms. Not to mention they’d breathe a quiet sigh of relief that no one could accuse them of having sexist hiring practices.
The same often applies for investors. Someone may not invest in a company just for the sake of balancing out the gender ratio of their portfolio (or at least I hope they wouldn’t!). But if you’re a qualified investment that also offers some gender balance, it certainly doesn’t hurt.
5) You bring a unique perspective.
As a woman you can bring a different perspective to your work and to the companies you start. There are countless examples of men building products for women, without any input from women! Women may not be an alien species, but its sometimes good to have representation from your target market on the team. As a female founder you may even be more likely to think of an idea that men in the same industry hadn’t thought of yet. Differences shouldn’t be overemphasized, but at the same time we shouldn’t undervalue the fact that as a woman you have a unique set of experiences to bring to the table.
6) There are events, grants, programs, and awards just for you!
In an effort to combat the gender ratio problem in tech, tonnes of initiatives have popped up to support and recognize women in the field. A few examples that just scrape the surface are, Women 2.0, Girl Geek Dinners, Dell Women’s in Entrepreneur Network, RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards, and Women Who Tech. These are just some of the amazing resources offered exclusively to women. Could you imagine the uproar if similar organizations or awards existed just for men! My god, there would be hell to pay. So long as there aren’t ‘enough’ women in our industry these opportunities will exist. They are amazing ways accelerate your development, build a network, or get exposure.
7) The community wants you to succeed.
We all want to see more women in the industry. We want to see women kick ass and build successful companies. The more successful women there are in this industry, the more attractive technology and entrepreneurship will look to young girls. As a community we tend to offer a little added support and encouragement to women. As a woman you can leverage the added support of the community to more easily find the mentors and networks of people that everyone needs to succeed.
In my humble opinion, I think there are a lot of guys that would kill to have access to the opportunities outlined above. Rather than focus on some of the negatives that may come from being a woman in a male dominated industry I think we need to shift our focus to those times when it is in fact an advantage. I mean, isn’t entrepreneurship in general about turning challenges into opportunities?
