In a recent column, I encouraged women not to avoid the tech industry because – in spite of its poor record of attracting and retaining women—the industry also offers high pay and lots of flexibility. Since then, information about the history of women in tech, heretofore unbeknownst to me, started flowing my way; from the radio, from online, from readers. As if the universe were telling me, this is an old problem.
Did you know that Ada Lovelace a 19 century Victorian-era woman (yes, dressed like something out of Wuthering Heights) is credited with writing the “first algorithm to be carried out by a machine” and is therefore regarded as the first computer programmer? I didn’t. There’s even a computer language named after her, and so is “Ada Lovelace Day” — an annual event whose goal is to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and math. All news to me.
Did you know that a secret WWII army project known as the ENIAC –which calculated ballistics trajectory for military artillery- was programmed exclusively by women? This was the first modern programmable computer. Two men created the hardware and the women –all math majors– created the software. After the war, the Army asked six of the women to stay and they became the first teachers of programming. I’d never heard.
Did you know that in 1962, Dame Stephanie (Steve) Shirley founded one of the earliest software companies, which had a business model to hire only women working from their own homes? I’m an HR expert and I didn’t know. Her company became incredibly successful, (eventually valued at 3 billion), making her one of the six richest women in Britain. Want to guess which company was responsible for the programming of black-box recorders on the supersonic Concord aircraft? Yep, that was done by a bunch of women working from home.
Fast forward to now.
I was very impressed by these women’s accomplishments. But was also shocked not to have known about it, considering that I fancy myself to be a well-informed person.
Then I concluded, maybe part of the reason few women go into tech is that their role models have been forgotten or overlooked by the culture. If you don’t see anyone who looks like you in those roles, it’s harder to picture yourself doing that. If we want more women in tech, we need to change that.
© Copyright Eva Del Rio
