The co-founder of Women in Tech Finland, Marjo Miettinen, shares her thoughts about the future of technology in the first ever blog of Women in Tech Finland and stresses the need for a more diverse technical society. This blog post also marks the start of a blog series where we introduce you to inspiring role models from various fields of technology.

More than ever before in history, girls are studying and excelling in science and mathematics. Yet the dramatic increase in girls’ educational achievements in the field of technology has not been matched by similar increases in the representation of women working as engineers and computing professionals. Expanding women’s representation in engineering and computing will require concerted effort by employers, educational institutions, policy makers, and individuals to create environments that are truly welcoming for women.

I have studied at the faculty of education, made my doctoral thesis this year, but at the same time, I have worked with tech and tech-oriented people for over 30 years.

My heart is filled up with engineering, and I truly believe that diversity leads to better innovations and enables solving the big problems of the world.

We need a more diverse technical society. We need to speed up the cultural shift in Finland and encourage women to work in the tech industry.

Women in Tech Finland gives insights on relevant topics and the future of technology business, provides information about the value of diversity, inclusion and equality and raises discussion in our society of the whole subject, and of course, Women in Tech offers role models and co-operates with other actors in the field, such as networks, projects, educational bodies. When we founded Women in Tech Finland our role model was Ada Lovelace. You can read about this great tech lady here.

Now I take this opportunity to encourage you all to make bold and untraditional choices in order to pursue your interests and dreams. Possibilities to carry out ambitious goals and to enter into positions of driving force are many-sided, not to forget that well-performing women are still more easily noticed in a male dominated business than men. These opportunities are worth to be exploited. If men have shown their competence in demanding technology related positions, no doubt women can reach at least the same level.

As did the founders of Women in Tech Finland, we also believe in role models. We think that showcasing diverse role models is one of the most efficient ways to drive the change and boost the diversity of tech workers in the future in addition to inclusion. That’s why we have decided to launch a blog series where we introduce you to an inspiring bunch of people such as Marjo Miettinen and many others.

Do you have someone in mind? Contact womenintech@inklusiiv.org and let us know.