Where are all the women in the chip sector?

By Catherine Thorbecke

At a massive semiconductor trade show in Tokyo last week, I watched robots shoot hoops and play table tennis and witnessed an impressive lineup of executives share their visions on everything from quantum computing to artificial intelligence.

More than 1,000 companies representing nearly every facet of the supply chain gathered to show off their latest technologies to an estimated 100,000 attendees. But as I walked over from the local train station amid a sea of men in suits, I wondered where all the women were.

It’s not unusual for the semiconductor industry, and tech sector in general, to feel like a man’s world. That’s why I was heartened to see that roughly 12 per ent of the speakers this year were women. This representation sounds dismal, but it’s a lot better than some of the other panels and seminars I’ve attended recently in Tokyo.

This uneven reality is not a fault of the convention or unique to Asia. The lack of women in the chip sector is a global conundrum. A report last year found that the median of women representation in the workforce lies between 20 per cent to 29 per cent, and the percentage of women in technical roles was in the 10 per cent to 19 per cent range. These figures shrink even further with management roles.

Companies in the chip industry desperately need to overhaul efforts to recruit and retain women workers. There’s been some backlash against corporate diversity efforts in recent years, and one of its most vocal critics was recently elected US president. But there is no time for this exclusionary debate when it comes to this sector: It’s already in the throes of a massive labor shortage.

The global semiconductor business is projected to become a trillion-dollar industry by the end of the decade. It would be a shame for women to miss out on this economic boom, particularly given their participation is key to overcoming the biggest anticipated hurdle to unlocking this potential. Industry association Semi projects the need for 1 million additional workers by 2030.

At a time when governments around the globe are spending billions of dollars to get ahead, policymakers need to recognize that efforts to boost domestic production can’t afford to leave half the population behind. For private sector leaders, there’s also a mountain of data that suggests more women leaders make for better performing and more resilient businesses.

But in the tech sector, the stakes feel even higher. Diversity drives innovation, and the groupthink that arises from a lack of it can weaken firms trying to solve hard problems. Japan’s tech ecosystem, in particular, has faced criticism for not being innovative as it fell further and further behind Silicon Valley. At the same time, women have been left out of the nation’s tech sector. Japan had the smallest share among OECD nations of girls who expect to work in science or technology when they turn 30, and the lowest share of women graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math, known as STEM.

At a panel looking at some of the barriers companies face as they recruit and retain women, this smaller pool of STEM graduates emerged as a key issue. Solving this will take more than just company efforts. It will require systemic changes that encourage women to pursue career paths in tech at the university level and even earlier. Government mandates can help force corporate change, but they aren’t enough to support the front-end of this pipeline. Meanwhile, promoting women to leadership is critical to tackle a lack of role models and mentors in higher positions within the semiconductor industry.

As much as it can feel like a man’s world, there are glimmers of hope. Last week, Time Magazine unveiled Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su as its CEO of the Year. The Taiwanese-born immigrant to the US oversaw a 50-fold increase in AMD’s share price during her time at the helm. Her tenure is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study — showing women are more than capable of leading in this sector when given the opportunity. In a recent interview, Su said she’s passionate about her work with the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s women’s leadership initiative, touting the importance of bringing females in the industry together for support and mentorship.

I was thrilled to encounter swaths of women in some audiences at the convention. Amid the heated race for dominance in the tiny components that power our smartphones, computers and cars and the booming demand for AI, those countries and companies that come out on top will be the ones that have as many women in their workforce as men — not to fill some diversity quota, but because their businesses need them.