Balancing the Scales: International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day. For well over a century, this global day of recognition has celebrated the many achievements by women the world over. Each year, the United Nations chooses an official theme for International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is one we’re extra excited about as it places a distinct focus on gender equality in technology and innovation.

Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change

This theme comes at a critical time for our industry; despite making up slightly more than half of the U.S. workforce, women currently only account for around 25% of U.S. technology jobs. In the EU, that number is even lower at around 17.5%.

As we look inward at our own numbers, we’re proud to say that we’re higher than both of these figures. With our U.S. office at around 46% and our Bulgarian offices at 32%, our company-wide breakdown currently sits at 33% women. While it feels great to be able to say we’re well above the US. and EU averages, we know we still have work to do. As such, we’re continuously making efforts to achieve an equal balance in our company — and more importantly, our industry at large. Luckily, we’re not alone in these efforts.

There are a number of great organizations worldwide that are making huge strides towards balancing the gender gap in the tech industry. In the spirit of this year’s theme, we thought we’d highlight a few of them today.

Technovation

With dozens of chapters worldwide, Technovation challenges girls in middle school and high school to identify a problem in their community and use technology to solve it. The program takes them through the entire mobile app development process and gives them a leg up for a future career in technology. We hold Technovation very near and dear to our hearts as our local Minnesota chapter includes some friendly faces from our Minneapolis office. Learn more about Technovation here and find out how you can get involved in your local chapter.

Coding Girls

Coding Girls hosts workshops and events all over the world to help teach women and girls how to code and find careers in technology. Beyond that, the organization empowers them to explore their full potential, be more confident, and be better prepared to start those careers. Their mission is to not just increase the number of women working in technology but to also see more women in leadership roles. Learn more about Coding Girls here and find an event near you.

Women Techmakers Sofia

Falling under the umbrella of the Google Developers Group, Women Techmakers Sofia (WTS) is a supportive community in Sofia, Bulgaria that organizes local meetups and networking events. Their mission is to introduce remarkable women and girls working in or towards a career in technology so that they can learn and grow from each other. Learn more about the Sofia chapter here and Women Techmakers as a whole here.

UX Meetup Sofia

Another local Sofia organization, UX Meetup Sofia is a monthly meeting focused on great experience design. While not strictly intended for women and girls, it’s another great resource for budding female UX Designers in that they value having different perspectives at their events to share experiences, exchange ideas, and benefit the local design and development communities. Learn more about UX Meetup Sofia here.

These four organizations are just a small sampling of the many groups that are making huge efforts to balance the scales of equality in the tech world. There are plenty more out there and chances are, there’s one or two in your neck of the woods. If not, there’s always the opportunity to start something of your own!

To close out this International Women’s Day blog, we’re going to hand the mic over to some of the extremely talented and skilled women that we’re fortunate to work with on a daily basis to give their perspective on being a woman in the tech industry.