EdTechWomen and the Birth of an Industry

Guest post by Jenny Rankin

When people speak of the founding of the U.S. as it is politically structured today, they speak of our “Founding Fathers.” They reference the men who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776 and speak of “the birth of our nation” as we know it today. Some also speak of the groups whose voices and rights were missing from these men’s initial efforts. One of those groups, women, had to wait until 1920 for the 19^th Amendment to grant them the right to vote in all 50 states and thus influence the direction of this country. Gender struggles are mirrored in other countries, as well, and often met with worse adversity.

Currently, people are sharing globally in the birth of the educational technology industry. Yes, edtech has been around for a while now, but the term “edtech” is still in its infancy when you compare its lifespan to that of the two fields colliding to form it: education and technology. While some felt edtech hit its peak with the Internet explosion in 2000 (MacMillan, 2011), edtech continues to thrive. For example, CNN Money reports the global market for e-learning is “exploding” and expected to grow 56% between 2010 and 2015, pushing its $32.1 billion market to approximately $50 billion (Olster, 2011). My own family’s company representing other areas of edtech went from serving 67 thousand students in its founding year to now serving 1.7 million students just a few years later.  Other edtechs see even more impressive growth.

The point is, for those of us in the edtech world, we know edtech is booming. The world is watching this industry: some with an interest in dollar signs, some with an interest in the students edtech impacts, and some with an interest in both. The directions edtech takes will have a direct impact on the directions our students take – and thus will have a direct impact on our world’s future. Whose voices will shape this industry? Whose voices are shaping it now?

We know edtech clients are overwhelmingly female. For example, the U.S. Dept. of Ed.’s National Center for Education Statistics reports 75% of all teachers are women (Papay, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2007). Yet we also know those creating technological tools are overwhelmingly male. For example, 78% of computer programmers and 79% of computer software engineers are men, with no other statistics specific to edtech (U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011).

Great men do great things, so to say an industry is male-dominated is not to be mistaken for a criticism of men or as holding a single gender responsible. Rather, an industry is worthy of correction if both genders want and qualify to be involved in it, yet somehow one is not or is marginalized.  Considering women are the leading consumers of edtech, it is especially crucial we are neither relegated to, nor content to sit back on, the fringes of edtech companies. Will people one day speak of the “Founding Fathers” of edtech, or will women seize leading roles in this industry while it is in its infancy and ensure edtech is a space where women are driving forces?

The answer is encouraging. In writing about EdTech Women’s gathering of over 100 women at SXSWedu, EdSurge shined a spotlight on female edtech CEOs and noted listing them was easy (Corcoran, 2013). Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg (a prominent presence in technology and more) is a #1 National Bestseller. Nearly half of staff members on the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology team are women. Our edtech industry has been born at an exciting time for women.

It is also an exciting time for the world. With an impressive background in technology and an interest in edtech, Melinda Gates describes tech companies as having the potential to generate great social and cultural change and says, “You don’t go into technology without caring about changing the world” (Petronzio, 2013). One can argue the same is largely true of educators, and thus the same should be especially true of those of us in edtech, where these two fields meet.

We edtech women are part of historical change in this world. We can shape edtech and our space in edtech as a place for supporting one another, a place with a positive agenda, a place for collaborating with both genders on what is best for students, a place of equality as opposed to merely cognizant equality or worse, a place where we grow, a place where our voices are not only heard but are valued and followed, and a place where we shape the future of students and this world for the better.  We edtech women are founders in this industry. Women’s voices were not heard in the Declaration of Independence, but they can be heard now in our declaration of edtech presence.

Jenny Grant Rankin has experience as an award-winning teacher, site administrator, district administrator, and Chief Education & Research Officer of Illuminate Education, an edtech company. She is in the last steps of completing her PhD on an edtech topic (www.overthecounterdata.com).