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Through the years, technology has continued to advance. Fifty years ago we would never imagine we would see cars that drive themselves or robot vacuums. With all these advancements over the years, the one place we see technology fall short is employing women.

A 2019 Census study represents that men dominate the STEM field with a whopping 73% despite women making up 48% of the entire workforce. Now this statistic may surprise you, however, it is nothing compared to the fact that in 1970 women represented only 8% of STEM workers. That is a 30% increase.

DevDigital is proud to say that we break the norm when it comes to diversity in our workplace. Especially when it comes to our SEO Department. Despite a recent study of 652 SEOs by Moz.com showing that only 29% of those who participated were women, DevDigital is proud of their 66% women staff in their SEO department. Not only that, our leadership team here at DevDigital is 35% women.

While these numbers above are impressive, women are still definitely underrepresented in the majority of the STEM industry. Specifically, the computer/tech industry. The computer, tech, and engineering industry make up 80% of all STEM employees. Sadly, women only represent about a quarter of this category’s total employees.

Why is this exactly?

According to Anne Frank, Chemistry Teacher at Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, California, and robotics club chair, the reason lies in girls having a lack of interest. “Our experience, although we are always trying to recruit girls, is that their interest in STEM is not really increasing. As educators, we struggle to attract more interest.”

This trend has been seen across the country as several organizations have been created to help make STEM careers more attractive to our younger generation of women on a national level. By empowering girls and women in technology.

Organizations such as WIT support, inspire, and educate girls to break through barriers to advance their opportunities throughout STEM fields. Even locally, our great state of Tennessee has organizations in place to help grow our women in STEM. Middle Tennessee State University holds an annual event called the MTSU Girls In STEM (Formerly Expand Your Horizons or EYH) Conference.

Judith Iarte-Gross, Director for the Women In Stem Center defines the goals of the center as:

1. Maximize resources and opportunities for girls and women to pursue STEM education and careers.

2. Collaborate with PK-16 educational communities, other STEM centers, and other constituencies to maximize efforts supporting women and promoting best practices of gender equity in STEM professions.

3. Support female STEM professionals in their academic development and career growth.

DevDigital is excited to support the efforts of WISTEM. And cannot wait to learn more about how we can decrease the gender gap for the tech industry by promoting education and passion about what we do, and the digital products we provide for our clients. Women currently make up 25% of the entire DevDigital workforce. We are always looking to increase that percentage by hiring talented and career-driven candidates. If you are a woman seeking to start a career in tech, visit our career page and apply!