By Raisa Ghazi
Raisa Ghazi is a public speaker & university guest lecturer in inclusive leadership & women's leadership. Sign up for her free course here.
profound differences in workplace experiences between genders. Women leaders defeat many workplace barriers caused by gender biases and are transformational role models. Their challenging journey to the top allows them to develop themselves remarkably. This leaves less room for anyone to challenge the need for more women in leadership.
But that's not the only reason women leaders should be on the rise. While the world is being launched into the fifth industrial revolution, seven global tech revolutions (AI, VR/XR, AVs, quantum computing, blockchain, IoT and 3-D printing) are taking place, all requiring characteristics women leaders naturally bring. When I presented these ideas for the first time during an online keynote called "Why women make tech more ethical" for a global recruitment company, the chat was flooded with viewers who questioned my statement before I could even explain why.
higher (e.g., children's education or welfare). With the rise of artificial intelligence impacting the lives of unsuspecting citizens exponentially, a community-driven approach should be a prerequisite for being active in this specialized field. The consequences of AI products that don't consider oppressed voices are detrimental and further enhance inequality.
The need for more women in leadership also comes down to ethical decision-making, like not outsourcing environmental disasters to communities whose leaders don't protect them. Companies with more women on the board have proven to make more ethical decisions. Of the seven tech global revolutions, cloud computing, IoT and blockchain, for example, have a natural flair for being environmentally friendly (you're replacing hardware for the cloud). But many people forget the devastation these new technologies can bring in the form of excessive use of energy or mining to gather resources to build this hardware.
But we also need more women because they account for half of the world's population. And when it comes to the development of extended realities (VR, AR, MR)—which, until now, have been highly in favor of men when it comes to their usage—including the perspective of women is critical. Especially now that academic institutions are using VR at a higher rate, women being less able to use these technologies is becoming highly problematic. It's one of the reasons I have become a public speaker on the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion in technology.
In the end, women's leadership is not just about anticipating trends in technology. It's about leaving untapped potential behind simply because we used to believe women were incapable of making sound decisions.
The infrastructures of a world where women weren't welcome at the tables where decisions were being made are still alive. Those tables still don't have chairs where women can be seated. And if they do, these chairs are highly uncomfortable—to the point where the struggle women go through to be placed there causes so much mental exhaustion that they can't do it for too long. Women don't aspire to keep those seats anymore; they walk away from the table when the world needs them more than ever.
Credit:https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/09/12/why-the-world-needs-more-women-in-leadership/
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