The Future of Women In Tech

This post has been brought to you in partnership with T-Mobile, but as usual, all opinions are my own.

As a minority owned business in the technology space, I’ve had to break into new circles, carve out my own seat at the table and build a path in a predominantly male space – especially when it comes to automobile content. Today, I’m sharing some interesting insights on my own journey as an entrepreneur and content creator and some very important steps to solidify the concept that diversity and inclusion are The Future of Women In Tech.

The Future of Women In Tech

My Journey

Let me start by sharing a bit of my journey. 

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I started creating bilingual content in 2006 and sharing the benefits of raising bilingual children with the goal that more families would raise them.

My growth as a content creator and in social media, when it wasn’t “trendy,” put me at the forefront of brand campaigns well before what we see happening currently in the social space! I jokingly say, I am one of the first “influencers.” I was one before the term was created.

Essentially, Trendy Latina was created in 2009 to amplify my objective to grow and evolve. My path to following my passion led to me closing my foreign language school in 2016, creating content and providing social media management to small businesses full time. 

My main goal, when working on both businesses (Blog and Social Media Management) was to share the knowledge acquired through large conferences, expensive training, and private coaches so I could give the small businesses a chance to thrive and use tech and social media to grow, aligning their mission with ours. 

Empowering minority owned businesses and female bilingual diversity has always been in the forefront of my core values.

This is why I love partnering with companies today that are dedicated to also helping women in the technology field. T-Mobile actively works to open up the dialogue on how to support women in tech by spotlighting those who have climbed to the top of their fields, highlighting programs that support female students to explore careers in tech and even create avenues to help women return to their careers after gaps in work. I am especially excited about their Returnship Program – but more on that in a moment.

You should know that I also have a passion for fitness and health, and using tech support in my busy lifestyle is almost second nature to me! 

That’s why I was so excited to read an article about how 5G is helping foster important innovations in the wearable technology space that is being led by female innovators to specifically impact women’s health and lifestyles. I’ve owned wearable devices for over 7 years. While I do prefer specific brands, I can’t even imagine my hikes, workouts, schedule, mobile lifestyle and work trips without one! 

T-Mobile, the leader in 5G, delivering the country’s largest, fastest and most reliable 5G network, interviewed Marija Butkovic, CEO of Women of Wearables (WoW) — a global advocacy group for female innovators and founders — to get her expert insights on the promise of 5G and the growing femtech space. Here are some of my favorite moments:

Tech and STEM careers have a reputation for being non inclusive of women, which I know all too well.

According to research from Adeva, a global talent agency focused specifically on placing talent in roles within tech, only 3% of female students report that they would consider a career in technology and women hold just 25% of computing jobs in the overall tech industry. Can you believe this? Adeva’s research also suggests it will take until the year 2133 to close this gender gap. 

Marija spoke with T-Mobile on the topic:

 “I was the co-founder of a wearable tech startup and through that experience I learned that the wearable tech space was very heavily filled with men,” she says. “Women were not represented in the space as innovators, investors and as startup founders. So, I started Women of Wearables as a very small meetup group. From there, through events and content and collaborations, we have become a community of 20,000-plus members in almost 60 countries now. We come together with the same mission, which is educating people about the latest technological innovations, but also raising awareness and advocating about the need to invest more in female founders and innovators in this space.”

Marija also believes that WoW is proof that IoT technology is poised to redefine how we manage our personal health, with women’s issues stepping into the forefront. She says the focus in healthcare is turning towards prevention, and wearables can be the connective tissue between the patient and the doctor. 

The femtech industry, largely composed of female founders, innovators, designers and technologists focused on women’s health in the wearable tech space, is jumping on the opportunity.

You may wonder why the number of women in various tech fields is still so low today.

Marija: “I’ve seen more and more women studying STEM, which is excellent, however that’s not translated into women actually holding high-ranking STEM positions in different companies. I think the problem is because of a mix of issues women juggle: family, jobs and expensive childcare. I think that very often the problem is also maybe a lack of confidence because women want to tick all the boxes when they’re applying for a job, especially if it’s a senior job role.”

Another Great Question: What are some of the innovative wearable products you’re looking at now that aim to find new answers to common women’s issues?

Marija: “There’s a real boom in the femtech space around fertility devices. I think of things like Natural Cycles, which just announced a collaboration with Samsung. 

I think that’s incredibly positive for the ecosystem because their solution will be embedded into Samsung’s Galaxy watches. There are devices being made that you can use for your pelvic health by doing pelvic floor exercising. We have a community member at WoW that I’ve written about that has a belt for osteoporosis that’s been proven with its regular vibration improves the density of your bones, which is incredibly important for women going through menopause.”

Let’s talk about how 5G has helped these innovations.

Marija: “Incredibly important. I think that we cannot see the ecosystem thrive until we bring all the key stakeholders together. One part of that community are big tech companies like T-Mobile because they’re building the infrastructure. You can have the most amazing device, but if you don’t have the base infrastructureon which your device will run, what’s it all for? 5G is especially important because of how it will contribute to easier use and the potential to interconnect many of your devices together.”

One fundamental point Marija and I have in common is the dream of a future where if I have a smart fitness tracker, I have a smartwatch and I have all sorts of different devices, we can sync them all up and they can all be interconnected and work together, and we can all benefit from these devices. 

Another Great Resource for Women In Tech is the T-Mobile’s Returnship’s Program

Through the program, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in new training for business and technical skills relevant to your role and gain real-world experiences through special projects. This safe space is an opportunity to build a community with others returning to the workforce. 

You’ll receive coaching and mentorship and reshape your resume during this 6-month return-to-work program. 

Love that T-Mobile values what each person can bring to the table!

Check this out: Three T-Mobile employees talk about their experiences as women in tech and their thoughts around IoT innovations impacting women.

Their unique Returnship Program allows you to experience the T-Mobile workplace culture and share your talents to champion the changes in the industry.

Are you a woman who has taken a break from work and is looking to return to a career in tech? Take a look at T-Mobile’s Returnship Program, which creates a system of mentorship and support for those interested in various tech positions. Apply here.

Read More HERE. 

I can’t wait to hear what you think about the future of women in tech! 

As usual, give us a Trendy Shout!