Too Much Talk, Too Little Action: The Corporate Side of Gender Diversity in Governance

The tech industry accounts for twenty-one percent of our gross national product. Yet, tech is the most backward of major U.S. industries when it comes to promoting women to leadership positions or positioning them for future ascension into executive positions. Even lower down in the ranks, the number of women tech companies employ has declined from thirtyseven percent of employees in 1995 to twenty-four percent today (2016), with prognostications that the number will decline further, to twenty-two percent or lower in the next decade. As revealed in compensation tables that companies file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, women account for only five percent of the most highly paid tech company executives.

The underrepresentation of women—and the lack of diversity overall—is stark and noteworthy. This piece explores the question: What can and should the industry and companies within it be considering, evaluating, and possibly adopting to solve this social and economic problem?