In recent years, the share of women interested in working in the IT industry has been systematically growing. More and more companies recognize the enormous value that team diversification brings.

Women bring unique value to IT teams, driving innovation and increasing creativity. According to numerous studies, women are excellent at managing multi-tasking projects, and their greater percentage has a significant impact on the effectiveness of teams.

However, the situation is still far from ideal, and women interested in the IT industry have to face the stereotypes that have been growing for decades that this sector of the economy, as well as technical fields, are not suitable for them.

Therefore, it is worth remembering that from the very beginning of the development of computer sciences, the role of women was crucial.

Below we present a subjective list of 10 women who have made a huge contribution to shaping the IT industry – in the following weeks, we will present each of them, their achievements and the impact they have had on the modern world in more detail on our social media.

1. Ada Lovelace – she is considered the world’s first computer programmer. She worked on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and wrote the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine, making her a pioneer in the field of computer science.
2. Hedy Lamarr – not only a famous actress but also an inventor. She co-invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology during World War II, which laid the groundwork for modern wireless communication technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
3. Grace Hopper – a computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. She was a pioneer in developing computer programming languages and played a significant role in the development of COBOL, one of the first high-level programming languages.
4. Margaret Hamilton – she was the lead software engineer for NASA’s Apollo space program. She is credited with developing the onboard flight software for the Apollo missions, including the software that helped Apollo 11 land on the moon.
5. Annie Easley – a computer scientist and mathematician who worked at NASA. She made significant contributions to the development of software for Centaur rocket stages and energy conversion systems.
6. Mary Wilkes – she was one of the first women to earn a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT. She worked on early operating systems like LINC and Project MAC, contributing to advancements in time-sharing systems.
7. Adele Goldberg – she is known for her work on the programming language Smalltalk and for being one of the designers of the graphical user interface (GUI) while working at Xerox PARC.
8. Mary Keller – one of the first women to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science in the United States. She co-founded the Computer Science Department at Clarke College and advocated for increased representation of women in computing.
9. Radia Perlman – often referred to as “the mother of the internet” for her contributions to network design and routing algorithms. She developed the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which is fundamental to network bridge operations.
10. Katherine Johnson – she was a mathematician whose calculations were critical to NASA’s early space missions, including John Glenn’s orbit around Earth. Her work as a “human computer” paved the way for advancements in space exploration.

Gender biases and stereotypes lead to the underrepresentation of women in technical positions. Yet, despite all of the challenges, women have played an essential role in driving technological progress and shaping the world of computer science for decades.

Let’s support and encourage women to develop their careers in the technology industry – as the above examples show, we can all benefit from it.

This post is also available in: Polski (Polish)