Women are working and leading the best companies. As tech continues to evolve, women are more focused than ever to demonstrate their strength, passion, and dedication to help innovate and lead technology in the age of digitization and automation across the globe. Today’s progress comes as a result of decades of hard work, although there is still quite of bit of work yet to be done.
However, research also reveals as automation continues to become even more pervasive it will cause some women to leave the workforce or force them to change the way they work. Despite the many changes that will occur in the marketplace, the women on this list have shown they are determined to stay a steady course. Many, in fact, have already altered their skillsets changing the roles they have within their organizations.
If we look at the data, women rose up the ranks in many businesses beginning in the 1960s. According to the BLS, the top four industries employing women in 1964 were manufacturing; trade, transportation, and utilities, local government; and education and health services.
Today, women account for more than half of all workers within several industries such as financial, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services. However, they are still underrepresented in many industries.
In fact, a recent report by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows gains in female participation in science and engineering occupations, but at the same time the number of patent-holding female inventors is stagnating. Even with this increase in patent counts, women inventors made up only 12% of all inventors on patents granted in 2016.
The technology-intensive states as well as those where women comprise a large percentage of the state’s overall workforce, show higher rates of women inventors. Women inventors are often increasingly concentrated in specific technologies, suggesting that women are specializing in areas where female predecessors have traditionally patented rather than entering into male-dominated fields.
This is why the role of women in technology is so critical today. Innovation drives growth, and it is going to require both men and women to come to the table. As McKinsey recently noted, this will require a more skilled, mobile, and tech-savvy worker in the age of automation.
This is where the Women of M2M and IoT list enters the equation. It is comprised of some of the most powerful, tech warriors, and thus, successful women in the emerging technology sector. These women are selected because they each bring a unique lens to their respective companies that helps push connected technologies forward. Each year, Connected World magazine compiles nominations that are directed to the editorial staff. Winners are then chosen by a group of their peers within the industry.
This year, the seventh annual awards program recognized women as trailblazers and innovators in the IoT space. In addition, the women were celebrated at an event in June for their achievements of spreading the message of the Internet of Things. Help us continue to honor each of these women by reading on and learning more about this year’s Women of M2M and IoT. Please don’t hesitate to acknowledge these ladies with a nod on social media.