The growth in Femtech

The technology industry is predominantly run by white, educated men. Femtech The growth in female representation in technology Technology touches us all, and male-only teams tend to solve men’s problems, and see things from a male perspective. For example, until 2011 crash test dummies for cars were based on men — which meant women were 47%…

Future of gender equality

The technology industry is predominantly run by white, educated men.

Only 17% of jobs in the tech sector are held by women
Only 3% of venture capitalists are women
Only 7% of partners at top venture firms are women

Femtech

The growth in female representation in technology

Technology touches us all, and male-only teams tend to solve men’s problems, and see things from a male perspective. For example, until 2011 crash test dummies for cars were based on men — which meant women were 47% more likely to be injured in an accident. When Apple released its Health app in 2014 claiming that it tracked everything you needed to know about your health, it didn’t include period tracking.

“Until 2011 crash test dummies were designed by men and they were in the form of a man. And the problem with that was that in the event of a crash a woman was 47% more likely to be injured.”

James Wallman, The Future of Gender Equality Report

But the tech world is changing. Many commentators believe that Apple’s iPhone SE is designed for smaller hands. Prompted by apps like Clue which helps 5m women track their period each month, Apple Health now features period tracking and the new Apple Watch has an emergency alert feature, helping women feel safer when they walk home in the dark.

In the future we’ll see more tech designed for the 50% of the world who aren’t men, and created by them too. The result will be more creative teams, and better, more inclusive solutions – for everyone.