“Not enough women at the table" in tech firms, says Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook shares that there is “no good excuse” as to why there are not enough women in the world’s largest tech firms – including his own

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple , urges more women to pursue tech careers after sharing that there are still "not enough women at the table" in tech firms - including his own.

Explaining that there is “no good excuse” for the lack of diversity, Tim says that the technology industry "will not achieve nearly what it could achieve" if more women occupied the sector.

Boosting the number of women at Apple

Apple has recently launched a founders’ development programme specifically for female founders and app creators in the UK to encourage more women to join the tech space. 

In 2021, it was reported that Apple had 35% female staff. Deloitte Global estimates that women will occupy 33% of technology firms by 2022, with 25% in technical roles.

“I think the essence of technology and its effect on humanity depends upon women being at the table," Tim said in an interview with the BBC. “Technology's a great thing that will accomplish many things, but unless you have diverse views at the table that are working on it, you don't wind up with great solutions.”

Girls in education

To increase the representation of women in tech roles, Tim believes that there need to be more female role models in the space and that girls should be given an opportunity to learn tech-based skills in school. 

To achieve this, girls should have access to coding courses in school, to ensure that have a “working knowledge” of how to create apps and code before completing education. 

“Businesses can't cop out and say 'there's not enough women taking computer science - therefore I can't hire enough',” Tim added. “We have to fundamentally change the number of people that are taking computer science and programming.”

Apple created ‘Swift’, a programming language to help those keen to learn and use code.

Share

Featured Articles

B Corp: Are they really the gold standard of sustainability?

B Corporation certification has long been hailed as the gold standard of sustainability – we explore why

Invest like a VC with Paula Tavangar

How does a retail investor replicate, as closely as possible, a venture capital investment strategy? Paula Tavangar of SwissBorg Ventures explores

March8 Academy: Getting girls to go green

Michelle Li shares how parents can ensure their children are taking the right steps to a more sustainable future

All in a day’s work: From a newborn to a business pitch

Motivate

How do you prevent burnout impacting your busy schedule?

Motivate

Sport in the spotlight: Phoebe Schecter

Motivate