New grads can take advantage of these strategies to maximize hiring potential.

It’s job application season for those who are graduating this winter and spring.

The good news is newly minted students graduating now with undergraduate and graduate degrees are finding high paying jobs in engineering, computer and IT, plus transportation, according to new data from QRFY.

But for many women and those identifying as women, the work cultures of engineering and tech jobs are steeped in gender and racial bias.

But where there is disruption, there is opportunity to change the culture.

Gloria Feldt, president and CEO of Take The Lead writes, ”People who can think, work, and live in ambiguity and change will always be among the most successful, regardless of their field of endeavor, in my observation after many decades as a CEO. In fact, that’s exactly why I created my Leadership Power Tool #5, Carpe the Chaos.”

“@GloriaFeldt, president and CEO of @Takeleadwomen writes, ”People who can think, work, and live in ambiguity and change will always be among the most successful.” #leadership”

With the highest median salary of $97,000, engineering graduates earn the most, with computer and IT graduates earning a median annual salary of $90,000. Individuals working in this sector are earning 43% more than the average graduate, and 30% of these workers hold an advanced degree.  An overwhelming majority of graduates majored in Computer Science, 61% to be exact, the report shows.

According to a 2023 study, reported by Techopedia, “At 32%, the share of women working in tech is now lower than it was in 1984, when it was 35%. The percentage of women in tech leadership roles has fallen to 28% in 2023.”

Additionally, “50% of women in tech roles leave them by the age of 35. And 32% of women in technical and engineering roles are often the only woman in the room at work. In 2022, all-women startup teams received an all-time low of 1.9% or $4.5 billion out of $238.3 billion, in venture capital funding,” Techopedia reports.

“Although female CEOs now run more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies for the first time in history, the percentage of women in tech leadership roles is stagnant at 33%.”

“In 2023 alone, high-profile female tech leaders such as Meta’s Marne Levine and YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki stepped down. It is even more concerning that none of the ‘Big Five’ US tech companies — Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft — have ever had a female CEO.”

Women of color and those in underrepresented communities also have a difficult time securing tech roles. According to Built In, “Between 2007 and 2020, women occupied 25 percent of computing-related roles, and white women made up 13 percent of this group. Asian and Pacific Islander women made up 7 percent, Black women made up 3 percent and Latina and Hispanic women made up 2 percent. These uneven percentages signal that women of marginalized groups often experience discrimination that encompasses both race and gender, placing more obstacles in the paths of their tech careers.”

This stymied pipeline may begin long before higher ed. “While women earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees in psychology, biology and social sciences, they only earn 22% of the degrees in engineering, 20% in computer science and 21% in physics, according to research by the National Girls Collaborative Project.”

So how do new grads maneuver this tech landscape?

Approach companies with broad outreach. Seek out companies with female leadership at the hiring level. This can be done through social media platforms such as LinkedIn and more.

“Approach companies with broad outreach. Seek out companies with #femaleleadership at the hiring level. #womenintech”

Paige Cox Lisk, formerly Chief People Officer at Catalyte, and now Chief People Officer at Kyruus Health, says she casts a wide net to recruit and hire. “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is how we find our talent,” Cox says, “and we have 5,000 variables of data. So far we have screened 50,000 applicants online,” in a recruiting process that aims at building a diverse and equitable workforce.

“One of our core tenets is we firmly believe that aptitude is equally dispersed, but opportunity is not,” Cox says.

Do research to learn about the company’s reputation for retaining and promoting women. Kristin Naragon was recently promoted to Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Akeneo. She had been VP of global marketing and strategy at Akeneo, a product experience platform for more than 600 companies such as Sephora, Forever 21, Carhartt and more.

“Do research to learn about the company’s reputation for retaining and promoting women. #diversity #womenintech”

In 2022, Take The Lead reported Naragon telling a Women in Tech summit, “The microaggressions and blatant aggressions were happening. Women entering tech now have a lot more peers than when I was starting out. Still, they have a long way to go.”

Naragon commented on her recent promotion to the C-Suite, “My experience with Akeneo continues to be incredibly rewarding because I have the opportunity to work with amazing employees, customers, and partners. I couldn’t be happier to do my part in continuing Akeneo’s tremendous market momentum and driving our next phase of growth as the newest member of the C-suite.”

Seek role models in tech. Stay up to date on tech and business publications and set google alerts with keywords such as “women leaders in tech,” “women in tech C-suite.” You will come across great advice as well learn more specifics about women in tech leadership and the companies they lead.

“Seek #rolemodels in tech. Stay up to date on #tech and business publications and set google alerts with keywords such as “women leaders in tech.” ”

Tracey Zimmerman is the first female president and CEO of Robots & Pencils, an international digital innovation firm she joined in 2014 and where she has developed strategic partnerships with Slack and Salesforce, and focused business growth around EdTech, Fintech and ConsumerTech. Key clients include Nestle, Microsoft, Warner Brothers, General Electric, Columbia University and WestJet.

She told Take The Lead, “I’m a big fan of gender balance in leadership because all can bring their strengths to the table. But I joke if you have made it to CEO as a woman, you’re probably better than a male CEO.”

Be authentic. Make no apologies about your experience. Concentrate on your accomplishments in education and communicate your goals and plans to be an asset to the organization.

““I joke if you have made it to CEO as a woman, you’re probably better than a male CEO.” — @Trzimmerman, President & CEO of @RobotsNPencils. #womeninleadership”

Fang Cheng, founder of Linc, the award-winning consumer retail shopping solution for some of the world’s biggest retail brands, tells Take The Lead, she and four fellow NYU alums co-founded Touchco in 2009, where she served as COO. It was her first entrepreneurial venture. Six months after launch, the group sold the company in 2010 to Amazon for $30 million, and it became what the world knows as Kindle.

“We are genuinely passionate about getting people to buy into the future we envision,” Cheng says, who also co-founded Proximant, the first touch and go digital receipt platform that helps retailers beam a digital receipt into shoppers’ phones.

Advised by many people to change her name to Fiona and adopt her husband’s non-Asian last name, Cheng refused. “They were not trying to be harmful, they were trying to be helpful. But there were many moments like that, small and subtle. No one would give that advice to Joe Smith.”

Speak up and share your concerns in interviews. Ask questions about DEI efforts and ways the organization is moving to an inclusive workplace culture.

“Speak up and share your concerns in interviews. Ask questions about #DEI efforts and ways the organization is moving to an #inclusive workplace culture.”

Montreece Smith, Executive Vice President of People for Per Scholas, a national tech training initiative with 20 campuses and a staff of 500, placing 20,000 alumni at more than 850 employer partners, says she is helping to drive the company mission of opening doors to tech careers for persons of color. She tells Take The Lead, “Talent is ubiquitous. Opportunity is not. Getting in the door is key. We are changing the face of tech.”

““Talent is ubiquitous. Opportunity is not. Getting in the door is key. We are changing the face of #tech.” — @MoFindsTalent, Executive Vice President of People for @PerScholas.”

Leadership Takeaway of The Week:

“One of our core tenets is we firmly believe that aptitude is equally dispersed, but opportunity is not.” Paige Cox Lisk, Chief People Officer at Kyruus Health

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About the Author

Michele Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, an award-winning author, journalist, emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. @micheleweldon www.micheleweldon.com