A Quick Take on Women’s Month by a Woman in Tech

August is officially Women’s Month, but it’s slightly galling that celebrations of our accomplishments (and existence) should be confined to 30-odd days a year. But there’s no use crying about it — you may as well take the time to revel in your female-ness and in the accomplishments of the women before you.

So many life-changing cultural and political movements, scientific and technological innovations, and film, music, and artworks would not exist without women. 

You know the big names and the splashy achievements, but there are many other female inventions that we take for granted – such as the co-invention of COBOL (one of the first computer languages), medical breakthroughs in chemotherapy and immunosuppressive drugs, central heating and…coffee filters. 

Let’s take, Margaret Hamilton, for instance. She is considered one of the world’s first computer software programmers. Margaret is accredited for coining the phrase ‘software engineer’, which, at the time, critics said inflated her work’s importance. She started to work at MIT Instrumentation Laboratory and started coding software to predict the weather. Many seemingly questioned the ability of Margaret to both work on highly complex projects and be a full-time mother, however, ever the determined, Margaret continued to programme away with her daughter in toe, later creating the programming that would power Apollo’s command module computer. Whilst the work of Margaret may not be widely known outside of the scientific community, it later came to the forefront of news when she was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

It’s clear that women have played a pivotal role in helping to create our world as we know it – it would simply not be the same without these items and inventions — particularly the coffee filter! 

Women’s Month is about giving us our due, so let’s take a moment to appreciate women’s contributions (and your own) with the value that women add to the professional field and the never-ending love given to their families.

To that end, the community of women and allies (hi, OQLIS) are united in a common vision in which gender does not limit participation and impact in data-influenced careers.

If you’re in the market for BI solutions that are as strong, independent, and confident as the women we surround ourselves with, get in touch with OQLIS today!