Summary
While women in tech, and women CIOs remain underrepresented, studies show that women are often better collaborators than men, both within and outside the enterprise. One study found that in working groups of two to five individuals, groups with more women usually had more “equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking.” It reported that, this enabled the groups to make better use of the skills and knowledge of each group member, something that was less likely to occur in groups with less equitable conversations. This deceptively simple aspect of collaboration is vital to get the entire team involved in problem-solving and decision-making. Today, CIOs must increasingly partner with their business executives to balance delivering innovative solutions and propelling enterprise. One meta-analysis found that even though female leaders engendered stereotypes, women were generally better able to inspire people to buy into the organization’s mission by emphasizing its positive qualities. The research clearly demonstrates that women can have a powerful impact on successful collaboration in tech and other fields; more are needed to fill CIO and CTO positions.
“When we can create a more collaborative environment in the workplace, it naturally leads to better decision-making as more voices are heard and everyone feels like a valued contributor.”
—Yasmin Karimli, former VP of cybersecurity transformation at T-Mobile and current CIO at SST Partners
Kate Vitasek
