Technically tetchy, hoping for more women digital leaders is it hopeless?

V McGarvey 2 Tetchy Pumpkins
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I know it's not Halloween but it was the best tetchy image I could find in my collection. I am a feminist, I follow loads of hashtag discussions @ women in tech. However, it is still really frustrating to see air punching moments when one more woman gets a CEO tech job, or a one-off award for a innovative enterprise when it should be the norm. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work in and manage 2 progressive areas in HE, elearning and librarianship, the former male dominated the latter female, both areas have demonstrated great creativity in their use of technology. Even so I have observed across the sector that males still have a strong presence in the management of the digital and technical domains and this has made me tetchy but despite my tetchiness or should that be "techiness" I have hope.

With the swell of organisations supporting women's progression in the tech world and pressures within education to adopt more inclusive approaches to teaching technology, I think things may gradually change. This is also supported by the growth in the number of female led technology focused SMEs, particularly in the wearable market. These companies have been established by women too impatient to wait for the trickle of change.  Brighton based Brighton Digital Women founded in mid 2015 brings together women with a shared passion for digital. Eloise McInerney's  March 2016 blog post on digital leaders reducing the gender gap, referred to last year's government press release which reported that the proportion of women in the digital and creative industries falling  Despite this she injects some hope into the debate stating that "there are a growing number of dynamic, forward-thinking women in the UK digital sector who are not only successful in their own fields, but who are also leading and designing initiatives to get women and young people more excited about digital" She then goes on to profile 5 female leaders who are making an impact with innovative enterprises. A complimentary report is Elearnor Burn's article in the Computer Business Review which listed10 of the most successful women in UK technology. Burns says that although there are "a number of high profile tech leaders Gender equality is a fantasy in the business technology world - men outnumber women and it is apparently going to take around 100 odd years to reach gender parity".  This sounds pretty hopeless however Burns concludes that when we have women in positions of digital leadership, we have role models and role models with a voice. So am I still tetchy? When I see articles that surprisingly exude the isolated success of another female digital leader then yes, but if the article exemplifies hopeful illustrations of leading female role models in the disparate tech world, then I have hope, hope that we are moving closer to the norm.

Acknowledgements

5 Female Digital Leaders Working to Reduce the Gender Gap
29/03/2016 Eloise McInerney

10 of the most successful women in UK technology on influence, leadership, equality and being digital role models Eleanor Burns April 26 2016