Tech’s gender diversity and women’s equality problem is getting some well-deserved time in the spotlight.
Unfortunately, those 15 minutes of professional fame have come in the form of heartbreaking essays and testimonies from people who have experienced the ugliest side of the world’s most innovative sector.
As is the case with design challenges, InVision doesn’t claim to know all the answers—but we do know that giving underrepresented groups in technology a chance to thrive and succeed at the rate of everyone else is crucial.
Related: The surprisingly unknown history of women in computing
Tomorrow is Women’s Equality Day, commemorating the 19th Amendment passed on August 26 in 1920 to give women voting rights.
“More than 26 million women had their citizenship affirmed and gained a mechanism to empower themselves, their families, and their communities.”
– Center for American Progress
Today, women are still empowering themselves, their families, and their communities as trailblazers in all sectors. And luckily, we’ve got dozens of those women here at InVision.
In this 4-part series, some members of our team shared their experiences starting and growing careers in tech.
1. InVision women reflect on tech career challenges and triumphs
Our 10-woman panel ranged from content strategists and product managers to engineers. In this post, they share challenges faced in their careers—from a lack of women’s restrooms on job sites to being called out in college classrooms.
Read on for standout experiences and how thoughts about women in the field have changed over time.
2. Why mentorship is key to closing the tech gender gap
Every one of these remarkable women credited mentors and managers—men and women—with helping to accelerate their careers.
In some cases, that meant hearing candid feedback for the first time. In others, it was informal counseling and merit-based promotions, and even becoming a mentor themselves.
Read on for advice choosing a mentor and first-hand experiences of successful male-female working relationships.
3. 6 tips for women—and everyone—to build strong tech careers
While no advice is universal and everyone’s career is different, words of experienced wisdom can be a tide that lifts all boats. In this post, our panel shares actionable tips that range from learning to speak up to going after raises.
Related: 7 tips to help you nab your next promotion
Read on for actionable tactics, and what it was like when these women learned to put each tip into practice themselves.
4. Dear tech CEOs, here’s how to empower women in your company
For the last piece in the series, we asked women to share actions they’d like to see companies take to turn well-meaning philosophies into reality.
Best of all, these suggestions don’t require millions of dollars or additional resources.
Read on for game-changing initiatives, from fair, regular performance reviews to commitment to improving from the highest levels of leadership. Then, echo these women’s ideas anywhere you can—eventually they will be heard.
2017 Women’s Equality Day events
by Kaysie Garza
Kaysie is a content specialist at InVision. She's helped strategize and write launch campaigns across the company, including all DesignBetter.Co programs, The Design Genome Project, and more. You can find her devouring books, French fries, or hiking trails when she isn't working on words.
