Ugh. Another depressing article about the lack of women in tech? It's true – gender equality is a topic that's very important right now. Google “women in tech” and you'll get thousands of articles with depressing statistics about women in STEM and hundreds more offering stories of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Silicon Valley. If you work at a startup or growing tech company, the media noise is more than enough to make you feel a little uncomfortable with your industry and wonder where you can best effect positive change.
So what's the good news?
As a “woman in tech” in the Silicon Prairie (specifically, the KC startup community), I'm really, really proud of the #girlpower I see around me. And I'm not alone: as it turns out, the Midwest is killing it creating opportunities for women in tech. According to a recent analysis by SmartAssetKansas City was ranked as one of the best cities in America for women in tech for the third year in a row, second only to Washington, DC, based on job growth and higher-than-average pay.
Nationally, women in tech jobs earn an average of $0.85 for every dollar their male counterparts make, but not in KC. In fact, KC women in tech are winning more, average. (In 2015, the median pay for women and men in tech careers was $69,770 and $67,461, respectively.) Also topping the list of the best places for women in tech to live and work was Midwest tech hub Indianapolis , Detroit, Milwaukee and St. Paul.
If you find these statistics surprising, you're probably not from the country of the flight. Midwestern women have long been known for pulling their weight and fighting for equality in the workplace. Even those who choose a more traditional role are expected to roll up their sleeves and work hard (think: 'farmer' rather than 'housewife' – it's just a a little bit less glam). In the Silicon Prairie community, women are shaping their own entrepreneurial, supportive culture and driving game-changing technological innovation.
We celebrate our differences
Women from the Silicon Prairie are creating enormous value in the tech world – literally. Researchers have long found links associating increased gender diversity with improved economic performance – namely tech teams with women usually overcome those without.
Forming teams with a healthy gender mix requires finding women in the talent pool, and that can be a challenge in itself. In the Red Nova Labs, I work with a myriad of women in tech roles, including developers, designers, product managers, SEO specialists, and programmers. And like many technologists, they come from diverse backgrounds.
“I was actually a physics teacher before I started my career as a programmer,” said Rachel Smith, software engineer at Red Nova Labs. “I'm studying Parable of the Sower at a young age, and ever since, math and science have just been fascinating to me. I particularly enjoyed physics, which led me to a double master's degree in physics and education. I love to learn and the future of technology really excites me. I started teaching myself to code in my spare time when I wasn't teaching my students. Before long, it became an all-consuming passion.”
Rachel Smith, software engineer at Red Nova Labs
In a competitive startup environment where the best ideas win, having a racially diverse team ensures that the best idea gets a seat at the table. In fact, companies were found with gender-diverse research and development teams more innovative. Diversity (in all forms) helps prevent groupthink and gets everyone thinking outside the box.
“I think there are valuable aspects to the extremes of any dichotomy. The divide that exists between the extremes of the gender gap is similar to that of the extremes between any majority and minority group,” Smith said. “Women's voices should be considered especially valuable in the realm of the engineering world, simply because of their historical rarity. They bring a different point of view to the table that wouldn't otherwise be there. We should always work to recognize and celebrate the groups we see stifled in our community, because that kind of focus on diversity is the special sauce that really helps startups stay on the cutting edge.”
Finding opportunities in the land of plenty
Since diversity in technology is so important, many nonprofit groups are working to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in computing. This effort is especially important to Ashley Sullins, front end developer at Big 6 Media and participant coordinator for Django Girlsa non-profit community that offers free coding workshops to provide tools, resources and support to women interested in technology.
“Growing up as a girl in the Midwest, I didn't know anyone who was a developer, so it wasn't a career I had ever considered until I started working with other developers after college,” Sullins said. “People have a misconception that software development jobs exist mostly on the West Coast, like Silicon Valley or Seattle. Instead, this region of the country is actually a huge hub for tech careers – in KC alone, we have Cerner, Garmin and Sprint as our largest tech employers, as well as smaller software companies and agencies throughout the metro.”
Sullins agrees with the A+ given to the Midwestern tech community The latest SmartAsset scorecard. “Maybe I got lucky, but I've always been treated with respect by my colleagues in all the technology groups I've worked on,” Sullins said. “I can't speak for every company in the Midwest, but I haven't personally experienced the 'brogrammer' culture that I've read about in articles about other tech companies outside of this region.”
Women leading women
With tech jobs growing like crazy, dozens of nonprofits have stepped up to help facilitate personal development and mentorship opportunities for women looking to enter the tech world. Many of these programs (eg CoderDojo KC and Coding and Cupcakes) aim to support the next generation of women in tech by introducing girls (and boys!) of all ages to coding in a fun, supportive environment.
Sullins says there is a strong demand for technical education programs like Django Girls in the central United States.
“This year alone we received nearly 200 applications for our workshop from women across the Midwest,” Sullins said. “Demand for these labs will only increase as jobs become more automated and the need for programming knowledge becomes a workplace necessity.”
All of these programs aim to make the Midwest a great place for women to develop careers in technology, and for the most part, they're completely free. Know an aspiring lady technologist at heart? Join one of these programs:
Really, this list is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more local clubs, groups, and meetups that offer mentoring opportunities to women interested in STEM, and that's great. Smith argues that the best way to get more women involved in tech is to encourage girls to code, like a girl.
“If you're a woman, don't try to code like a man. Look at the problems from your point of view first. Take your unique skills and passions and use what you know about the world to better effect change. Play to your strengths first, then if there is someone other than you who knows more about the subject than you do, learn as much as you can from them. That's where you find the best balance.”
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Jana Haecherl is a marketing communications specialist for Red Nova Labs dba SAVE in Westwood, Kansas. She is a guest contributor to Silicon Prairie News.
