Mothers were a topic at CES this year

This year was my first time ever attending CES and it exceeded all my expectations. Despite its name, it's not just a consumer electronics show anymore. There were policy discussions, AI breakthroughs, a lot of women in attendance, and ZERO booth babes. Here’s why I left more hopeful than ever for mothers.

I spoke on 2 different panels: "How Technology is Redefining Return to Work for Moms" with The Female Quotient and "Closing the Gender Equity Gap" on the main Consumer Technology Association stage.

On both panels, we talked about some of the barriers to getting and keeping women in tech and some top themes emerged.

Childcare

When childcare is hard to come by, it’s disproportionately mothers who bear the burden. I focused on the major role that childcare plays in keeping women in the paid workforce. If we want to change the ratio of women in tech, we need to focus on childcare. This doesn’t necessarily mean employers must build onsite childcare centers. There are plenty of lower cost ways employers can help employees access and afford childcare.

Flexibility 

One way more childcare options are unlocked is with remote and flexible work, which has real tangible financial value for employees. For example, a provider that closes at 5pm might not have been feasible in a world where you commute into an office, but might now be a possibility if you’re saving time on a work commute. Parents may even be able to get by with part-time paid childcare if they can fill in the gaps with friends and family support or a split shift.

We talked about the importance of flexible scheduling in helping parents. Elvie, a wearable breast pump company, is testing a program to give their employees off every other Friday. Policies like these benefit busy parents by giving them time to catch up on running a household, but they also benefit all employees who have lives outside of work.

Leadership

On the Gender Equity panel, the women leaders from HP, Microsoft and Pinterest shared what got them to the leadership positions they are in today and how it's every leader's job to support their team members - it's not just an HR thing! If women and mothers are falling behind in your organization, you have the power to do something about it. Someone mentioned how they simply stopped scheduling meetings during school dropoff hours as they noticed it was problematic for their parent employees.

By having these conversations, I left CES inspired and excited for the future of the technology industry. When everyone has an opportunity to contribute to an industry, we get the best ideas and innovation out. It's clear that everyone sees that now and is ready to start allowing women and mothers to be a part of an industry that has long excluded them. Goodbye booth babes and hello women leaders.