Does Digital Health Technology Know Women?
The majority of period tracker apps fail women, fitness trackers, and wearables fail pregnant women terribly. They were most probably designed and developed by men, and most likely not consulted by future users. We looked around at the women’s health and “femtech” market and found that digital health technology has yet to live up to female expectations. So far, the area is under-researched, underfunded and not understood.
Technology – Still a man’s
world
In spite of the slogan
of diversity pinned on the flag of many tech companies, the field is highly
dominated by men. It is easy to imagine Silicon Valley as, well, Silicon Valley itself, with a bunch of hooded guys, Sheldon Coopers
as science guides and women as side-kicks rather than main protagonists. Although
television is all about stereotyping and drama, it definitely does tell a
strikingly familiar story to real life when it comes to (the lack of)
diversity.
Just look at the numbers! Only about 15% of tech roles at Twitter are occupied by women,
and that number is slightly better at Facebook (17%), Google (19%), Microsoft
(18%) or eBay (24%). Fitbit increased board diversity by adding two female
directors after an outcry that it targets women with
its products without having a single one as a board member.
A
2016 report from McKinsey found
that women made up 37% of entry-level roles in tech (compared to 45% in the
overall sample), and only 25% advanced to senior management roles. Just 15%...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Business Future of Medicine Medical Professionals Patients digital digital health technology diversity female femtech gender gender disparity Innovation social issues society woman women women's health Source Type: blogs
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