Ensuring the legacy of Ada Lovelace: in 2022 and beyond

Idit Levine at Solo.io celebrates Ada Lovelace Day, 11 October 2022

 

Since first being founded by Suw Charman-Anderson in 2009, Ada Lovelace Day has shone a light on the female role models in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries. It has provided us with an annual reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done to level the playing field for women.

 

Now, 13 years after its inception, the day is being celebrated for the final time. Not because the playing field has been levelled, but because the funding to keep the initiative going is insufficient.

 

The question is, what can we do to ensure the industry continues to build on the foundational work by Charman-Anderson to champion role models in the industry and drive better diversity?

 

Progress has been made

The fact is, too many believe that the ‘problem’ of gender diversity has been fixed. It’s true that progress has undeniably been made. Today, Deloitte Global predicts that large global technology firms, on average, will reach nearly 33% overall female representation by the end of the year – up by two percentage points from 2019.

 

But we still have a long way to go. Only 5% of tech leadership positions are held by women. And the fact that we’re still referred to as women in tech, or female founders, or even worse… “girl bosses”, highlights the problem: we’re still the minority today. 

 

It starts at the beginning

In my opinion, it needs to start at the beginning, at childhood. By no coincidence, this is where Ada’s interest in engineering began. Fearful that her child would inherit her father’s volatile ‘poetic’ temperament, Lady Annabel Byron raised Ada under a strict regimen of science, mathematics and logic. And so, Ada’s curiosity for mathematics was nurtured from a young age.

 

By today’s standards, Ada’s mother would likely fall into the ‘pushy parent’ category. And unlike Lady Byron, many parents today would prefer to let their children find their own way in life – mine included.

 

The problem is that women’s experiences of tech from a young age are often limited to a very small set of problems, which, if not of interest, makes it very easy to discount technology.

 

According to PWC, girls are less likely than boys to study STEM subjects in school, even less likely to study them at university – plus, there’s an even smaller chance that they’ll want to pursue a career in technology after leaving university. 

 

There are so many roles in technology today, across almost every industry. Technology needs to be introduced to children in the broadest context. Throughout my career, I’ve always worked in software engineering, but have applied my skills to solve problems across a range of industries, from non-profit and biomedical engineering, all the way through to big tech and startups.

 

Women, and especially younger women, need to be educated on how tech aligns with their passions, regardless of whether those are climate, public health, digital art or self identity.

 

Don’t be afraid to speak up

However, piquing their interest from a young age is just the beginning. Once a woman has developed an interest in tech, she needs to be prepared to work hard – harder than any of her male counterparts.

 

My own experience as a founder has not come without its challenges, but I’ve never been afraid to speak up. In any business, it’s vital to ask questions to grow your understanding, introduce yourself to make connections, and offer your perspective to show your worth. The same is true in tech.

 

Typically, women are underestimated, and forging those important relationships at the beginning can be an uphill struggle – but it’s worth it. It’s true when they say, ‘you’ve got to be in it, to win it.’ You never know what helpful gem of knowledge you might gain, nor which helpful connection might help to open a door to that next opportunity, if you don’t put yourself out there in the first place.

 

The $12 trillion opportunity for the global GDP

Diverse teams way outperform homogenous ones, and women-led tech companies perform three times better, on average, than those with male CEOs according to Fortune.

 

When I founded Solo.io in 2017, I couldn’t have dreamed of how rewarding and successful the experience would be. Diversity has played a key part in our success.

 

Today our team of engineers is 30% female, and we actively try to ensure that we’re attracting a diverse pool of candidates. We have grown at such a pace that we now have a $1 billion valuation. We tripled our revenues in 2021 and expect to hit 5-6 fold growth by the end of this year. 

 

The whole world stands to benefit if we can reach a near equilibrium in technology: McKinsey estimates that $12 trillion could be added to the global GDP by 2025, simply by advancing women’s equality.

 

If we can educate children on the vast and diverse uses for technology, while ensuring we offer equal employment opportunities for all, we can inspire a future generation to come up with truly innovative use cases to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.

 

2022 may be the last year that we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, but we need to ensure its legacy continues.

 

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Idit Levine is Founder & CEO at Solo.io

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com