March represents Women’s Month, a global celebration of women’s contribution to social, economic, cultural, and political achievements.
As someone who has worked in male-dominated tech industries since 2005, I can safely say more and more amazing women are taking leadership roles in these spaces, which makes me so happy. An example of this can be found in the London Blockchain Conference 2024 keynote lineup—one of the two keynote speakers is Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO of Century Tech, a fabulous female leader in future tech.
“It’s an exciting time to be in emerging tech. Every day, we see more women stepping into technology roles, pursuing a STEM career, breaking barriers and contributing groundbreaking ideas. This progress isn’t just about filling seats; it’s about bringing diverse perspectives to the table that can lead to real innovation,” Lakhani shared with me.
“At the Blockchain Conference this May, I’ll be talking about how inclusivity is not just good for culture, but it’s a boon for innovation and business too. Celebrating women in tech isn’t just for International Women’s Day; it’s essential every day to drive our industry forward,” she added.
During Women’s Month, we also celebrate Women’s Day on March 8. On this day, I was invited to participate in Episode #6 of BSV ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5) on X Spaces in celebration of women in the BSV blockchain ecosystem, and it was such an uplifting experience. In honor of this special day and month, I wanted to gather thoughts from a handful of amazing women I have the pleasure of knowing, including BSV ELI5 organizer Crescenda Babiera.
According to Babiera, the social media manager and BSV Ambassador program manager at BSV Association, BSV ELI5 Episode 6 was meant to show appreciation to the ladies for their invaluable contributions in shaping the BSV blockchain ecosystem.
“We highlighted how these women funnel and channel startups, bringing their names into internet spaces and showcasing the extent to which BSV has reached in Asia, Africa, Europe, America, and the rest of the world through advocacy and education of BSV,” she said.
“We need women to deliver the blockchain technology in every industry and speak from the heart about why this technology is needed in every home around the globe,” Babiera added.
When I think of women in leadership roles in BSV blockchain and the future internet space, the first one that comes to mind is Christine Leong, CIO of nChain, a Web 3.0 technology company.
“I lead our technology capability from product development to engineering and roll out. Technology innovation and technology strategy is a core part of driving future tech in nChain,” Leong shared.
While most of Leong’s direct and in-direct reports at nChain are male, she has experienced far fewer challenges related to her gender in the more technical space than in her past roles within other industries.
“I think there is a strong sense of meritocracy and teamwork in a more technical environment, and there’s less focus on gender and identity, etc.,” Leong shared.
“However, like many others, I have faced numerous challenges over the years with business and investment environment, the most frequent challenge is the assumption that I could not possibly be technically minded and that I will need to consult technical male authorities before I am permitted to make decisions,” she added.
In an effort to help close the gender gap in digital tech industries and beyond, Emily Leeb, co-founder & CEO of Saroca, recently launched the LeadHERship program with a particular focus on women in the iGaming space.
“We provide development opportunities for women in the space to more easily follow their passion and their genius. Whether it’s supporting organizations to close the gender gap or coaching individual women 1:1 on how to uplevel their skills,” revealed Leeb.
“Research around the world in business these days shows that businesses are more profitable when there is equal representation at the highest levels (Forbes 2023).”
“Female founders, while harder for them to raise, are proven to deliver higher margins than their male counterparts. And also, we should support women to go after whatever they’re passionate about. Because when passion meets purpose, incredible things happen,” Leeb added.
Spotlighting female-led excellence in the tech world is key for the younger generation as they need role models in male-dominated industries. Encouraging a diverse leadership team to create the best products and solutions for customers is also critical.
“We need different ideas, thinking [and] experiences in order to create the most robust, innovative, and valuable solutions. To do that, we need to encourage women to participate and contribute so that we all benefit from better products in the market; after all, we, as women, are 50% of the end users,” said Leong.
It’s important to emphasize that spotlighting female leaders during Women’s Month is not a signal that women are being left behind in the tech world, as Babiera pointed out.
“I see Women’s Month as more as an opportunity to meet new ladies and celebrate women’s talents and capabilities in the industry. Sensitizing this in the internet space awakens those shy and intimidated hearts but powerful minds behind the embodiment of a woman,” she said.
Women’s Month also provides a support system for females used to being the minority at the table.
“By default, we don’t take up space; we don’t ask questions, [and] we suffer more from imposter syndrome than men do. We are usually expected to be the default parent and childminder. Society has told us we are ‘less than’ forever, so to rise in the face of that takes tremendous courage and a support system around you,” added Leeb.
While we do have some way to go until full gender awareness and equality are reached around the globe and within the future tech space, we are absolutely making progress toward that goal.
“I think in many aspects of technology, e.g. software development, we are getting more younger women in the tech workforce, and I find that our Eastern European team has done very well with this,” confirmed Leong.
“This generation of male leaders are much more supportive and equality driven. I would love to see in the future that we can achieve true equality based on merit. Men and women are treated the same, regardless,” she said.
Babiera added, “What I dream about is having fair opportunities for both genders, seeing an equal portion for men and women in panel discussions, governance in any company or institution, healthcare, benefits, etc.”
According to Leeb, the 2023-2024 MIT school year sees 49% of undergrad students and 40% of graduate students are women and we need to keep up this trend by exposing tech to young children, especially girls.
“We need to destigmatize male-dominated industries by celebrating and acknowledging the efforts and strides that women are making in this field. I’d like to see higher graduate numbers in university and higher c-suite roles for women in tech over the next five years,” Leeb proposed.
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