Catherine Chen: there is a need for women leaders in the digital world
Drawing on her 26-year professional experience in the tech industry and her personal path to management levels of Huawei, Catherine Chen expressed a desire to see more female leaders, exemplifying not only the strength of women, but also the unique and innovative power to drive the digital economy.
In her speech at Europe's most important digital conference, Ms Chen talked about the importance of both having female role models and achieving gender balance in the tech industry: “Gender equality does not mean reaching a point where women and men share the same mentality and the same behavior. Instead, it is about achieving equal opportunities and rights, which can only be guaranteed by a more inclusive, diversified and healthy society ".
Ms Chen highlighted that women represent almost half of the five billion active population worldwide, but also that only half are included in the workforce. Only about 20-30% of the ICT workforce, and only 7.4% of Fortune Global 500 CEOs are women. "In the digital age, we need not only more women in the industry, but also more women leaders," said Chen.
Ms. Chen went on to describe three key factors in achieving this goal. First, she stressed the importance of political support for women, for example the goals and guidelines outlined in the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025. He reiterated that Europe has been a pioneer in promoting gender equality. Second, it is women themselves who have to reject the stereotypes according to which the technology industry is too monotonous or complex for them. Thirdly, she emphasized how digital training will be able to ensure women's empowerment, as "it will offer them more opportunities, helping them to learn the basic skills they need to be competitive in digital economy. ”
As a leader in the technology industry, Huawei is more than willing to work with its partners to sow the seeds of the future by promoting STEM education. Through programs such as the Huawei ICT Academy, as well as DigiTrucks in Kenya and Digital Training Buses in Bangladesh, these initiatives are helping to bridge the digital divide around the world. "We hope that more bright women will emerge in the technology industry to achieve a more equitable, open and diversified future". concluded Ms. Chen.
The Web Summit event is considered one of the largest technology conferences in the world, with over 100,000 attendees and 800 speakers, and brings together leading individuals and companies from the global technology industry: https : //websummit.com/
Sponsored by Huawei
