When the stats and odds on women in tech threaten to get me down, I will always have November 15, 2017 to remember and lift my spirits. Was it a big Election Day? A rally or referendum? No. It was a Seattle ARA event sponsored by Avvo and focused on the findings of the 2017 Harvey Nash and ARA Women in Tech Survey. The night included a powerful fireside chat with three inspiring tech-industry executives: Monica Pool Knox, Global Head of Talent Optimization, Microsoft; Britt Provost, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, Apptio; and Michelle Perez, Principal, Artemis Connection.

Insights from the Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey & Two Highly Accomplished Tech Leaders

Each year the Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey gets bigger, and better in my opinion. It's better because of the ever-richer tech leadership data we are gathering from around the globe. And it's better because our partner and sponsor, KPMG, leverages their talented network of business and technology analysts to dive deep into the findings and bring out powerful insights into the opportunities and challenges shaping the digital landscape for today's CIOs. While we have been conducting this survey, the largest of its kind, for 19 years, the 2017 survey is still full of firsts. One fitting example of these firsts is the focus of the webcast I co-hosted on November 1st with KPMG's US CIO Advisory Practice Leader, Denis Berry. and I not only had the chance to share the survey results with the audience, but also unveil what this year's survey data identified as four key pillars of digital leadership.

Employers Expand the Criteria, Women Focus on Skills

The second annual Harvey Nash Women in Technology Survey has just been released, and once again the most important takeaway is "We have to start early!" Early introductions to STEM/STEAM and strong STEM/STEAM education are powerful ways to foster a strong IT workforce according to this year's survey takers, 69% of whom said the key to getting more women in tech is encouraging them to pursue technology in high school or college. That belief likely comes from experience. The survey found that 59% of men and 44% of women entered IT through a STEM track in college. As we look at younger years, the gap between men and women who are bitten by the IT bug in even earlier years grows. The survey found that almost half of men (44%) but only 26% of women become interested in technology in high school or earlier. The difference in early tech interest is also pronounced. Twice as many men as women (20% vs. 9%) reported their tech interest began in elementary school.

For five years we have been at this. Each year we co-host the Australian unveiling of the global Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey data in Sydney to a room of CIOs and tech visionaries. And after that? We then co-author this blog from opposite sides of the world. It's a fabulous ritual that allows us to both absorb and disseminate several of the powerful lessons shared by our brilliant Australian CIO panels and audiences.

In her recent blog featured on APAC CIO Outlook, Harvey Nash Chief Digital Technology Officer & SVP Anna Frazzetto explores ways to maintain and improve your center of IT strength when Data Center infrastructure is transforming. Read the full blog now.