A number of leading tech firms around the country have pledged to close the gender gap through engagement and education. General Electric, for one, has set a goal to have 20,000 women in STEM roles throughout the company by 2020 and achieve a 50:50 representation in all technical entry-level programs. Similarly, Oracle has invested $3 million to educate girls in STEM fields through the government’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative. Even Google, who had some gender and diversity-related issues a few weeks ago, has invested nearly $50 million to teach young girls how to code. With this kind of investment, the bet on the gender and skills gaps being intertwined is a big one. However, it’s hard to deny that tapping into a notably untapped resource in terms of potential IT and engineering talent is the best course of action. According to a recent GE report, women hold just 13 percent to 24 percent of tech-related jobs at major technology firms. Additionally, only 14 percent of engineering positions and 25 percent of IT roles at companies nationwide are held by women. That leaves a staggering percentage of women available for these positions, a worthy adversary to the daunting foe that is the skills gap in tech.
