Problems exists all around us. It is our duty to look into problems and come up with effective solutions. Some solutions may not solve the problems and may even backfire.
The field of technology is dominated by men. More women need to be introduced to jobs that are technology based. According to the U.S department of commerce, women account for less than 25% of science, technology, math and engineering positions in the U.S. With lack of women in technology, competitiveness will hinder and a workforce with high potential gets untapped. With more women in the field of technology, diversity comes into play and this leads to different types of ideas to be generated and more innovation to take place. More women should be encouraged to pursue technology concentrations in universities and colleges. This way, they can get exposed to technology at a higher level and learn it. The different stereotypes of the kind of person that you need to be to be in the technology field need to be erased from women’s minds. Lienna Nelson mentions that “We grow up with this idea that you have to be a guy who’s been programming in his parents’ basement since he was 5 to study computer science”. IBM launched a campaign to get more women involved in technology. It was part of a wider effort to promote STEM careers. The campaign asked women to hack a hairdryer. With this campaign, IBM wanted to encourage women into getting into the field of technology. On a page of the IBM website it states that “At IBM women have been making contributions to the advancement of information technology for almost as long as the company has been in existence”. This campaign, however, received widespread criticism from women in the technology industry. Because it was about hacking a hairdryer, many women showed their disapproval for the campaign by tweeting what they do in their daily lives. Even the London Fire Bridgade showed disapproval for the campaign and tweeted that “We're staying out of the sexism debate, however we'd suggest that it's generally a bad idea, & possibly a bit dangerous to #HackAHairDryer” . This campaign used a hairdryer for women. This was not a good idea, because a group of people should not be referenced with an object. IBM should have used a more gender neutral way to promote women in the field of technology.
In an era where we are all working for equality, there is still a gender pay gap for men and women. Women earn less than men. This issue will continue to grow unless and until we do something about it. The World Economic forum Forum predicted in 2015 that it will take 118 years to get rid of gender pay gap. In the U.S, women make 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. This is clearly not fair as women are getting less for the same work as men. A step to reduce and even eliminate gender pay gap was the Equal Pay Act in California.This Act prohibits employers to retaliate against employees who want to discuss wages.This would allow for transparency in pay and women can discuss about their wages and possibly negotiate to get higher wages. This has provided a platform for women to openly talk about wages and have their voices heard. However, there is an issue present with this Act. As pointed out by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia “Pay secrecy also contributes to the gender pay gap, because women cannot challenge pay discrimination if they do not know that they are being paid less than their male counterpart”. This presents a problem as women may not end up getting all the information that they need to negotiate higher pay. In the end the power is still in the hands of the employer.
Thus, we need to come up with effective solutions that can permanently solve problems in efficient ways.