Gender Equity in the Electronics Sector

With the technology and electronics sector growing constantly, it is vital that the industry reflect on gender equity and development. As with all aspects of modern life it is necessary and mandatory to include and ensure participation of all genders in all sectors of life and work. This can only be good for the electronics sector.

Why Gender Equity Matters

Diversity of all types increases an organizations productivity and innovation. A 2016 study from University of California showed that the best performing big companies in the state had mainly women leaders. This is strong evidence to suggest that having women involved in the economy in a more equal nature can only be good for the economic recovery required after COVID-19.

What Does this Mean for the Electronics Sector?

For a burgeoning sector, there is much to do to achieve gender parity in the electronics sector.  As of 2020 the stats spoke for themselves. In the USA only 26% of computing jobs are held by women and the ratio of men to women on engineering is 5:1 and most shockingly 88 % of all tech patents were by an all-male team. These are unacceptable statistics in a modern era and for a sector that is cutting edge and forward looking.

One of the major stumbling blocks noted has been the level of industry knowledge and experience of emerging female electrical engineers, designers, and tech start-ups. This is somewhat ironic given that even those women who are highly educated in the field do not last as long in electronic design and manufacturing roles. Yet such industry knowledge and design experience can only come with time spent at the coal face.

It is important for the electronics sector to look within and overcome the gender fatigue, where the industry is able to accept that there is a need for gender equity, not just in electronic businesses. Indeed, organizations like Women in Electronics have been set up with the sole purpose of providing a collaborative platform for women in the electronics industry. They have also been at the forefront of developing female talent for the industry, yet more needs to be done in this regard.

How Women can Compete more Equally

The best advice for aspiring women electronics designers, manufacturers and start up owners is to harness the power of the technology to level the playing field. ‘Knowledge is power’ and the ability to have big data at your fingertips will no longer be based on how long you have been in the industry, but on how fast you can access this knowledge to impact positively on your design and production methodologies.

Female entrants to the field should not be disadvantaged by the possible lack of a ‘whole of industry’ knowledge. Innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and perseverance coupled with the existing technology and information software will be the means by which anyone new (regardless of gender) to electronics design and manufacturing will succeed.

For example, you do not need to know the exact specifications of every capacitor or resistor on the market. It does not matter if you may never know these specs, because there is software and technology available that does know this information and can provide it to you at the click of a mouse. Simply perform a datasheet search with Octopart the fastest search engine for electronic parts and you have the information at your fingertips.

This is just one example of the tech and ingenuity that exists out there that must be harnessed by women and all those new to the field to create opportunity for gender equity.

What the end result should look like

• More women looking to study electronics.
• More female designers, manufacturers, and startup businesses in electronics.
• Increased confidence of the women in electronics.

The entire sector needs to work collaboratively to ensure that gender equity is not a pipe dream but becomes a reality. Tech and electronics have always been regarded as cutting edge, it would be appropriate to see the fruits of change in a sector so forward looking.