To be a woman in the contemporary tech landscape is to be a part of an ever-growing revolution. The percentage of engineering jobs held today by women are at 15 percent, up from 12 percent in 1990. Those in occupations relating to mathematics have increased from 41 to 46 percent over the same period, and in all STEM fields from 23 to 26 percent. Jobs for women in life and physical sciences have soared from 27 to 45 percent.
While there remains work to be done, there is hope in the air for Women’s Equality Day. Built In Boston asked women leaders at two tech-focused companies about how they achieve and support greater gender parity —very often it starts at the top.
Acrisure Innovation aims to transform insurance risk and underwriting through AI-driven software.
What does your company do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
The Innovation organization is led in part by an accomplished, diverse team of female leaders. This in itself speaks volumes. Beyond that, we offer up to $1500 per year for learning and development, which includes items like books and subscriptions for work-related content as well as courses and attending conferences. We believe in investing in growth for all our employees and encourage them to find opportunities to leverage this perk to do so. In addition, we have a mentorship program in place to encourage a mentee’s personal and professional growth and development. This is achieved through one-on-one guidance, feedback and experiential learning from a mentor.
That our Innovation organization is led in part by an accomplished, diverse team of female leaders speaks volumes.”
How do your colleagues — and in particular company leadership — show that they are allies to women in the workplace?
It starts with female leadership having a strong voice and seat at the table from the top down. In fact, six out of nine department leaders in Acrisure Innovation are female. Marketing, Digital Transformation, Data Engineering, Business Operations and People Operations are all owned by female leaders. Given Acrisure's deep financial investment and headcount growth into the Innovation group, the support comes naturally as women are driving core business initiatives that the success of the entire organization depends on.
To fellow women in your field interested in your company, what would you share with them?
For women interested in joining our company, you’ll find an environment that values your unique skills and experiences. Your ideas will be welcomed, and you’ll have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the team and the organization as a whole. On my team I value women who are data-driven, have direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing experience and are motivated by the incredible opportunity to be on the ground floor of a high-growth business in the fin tech space. If you're someone who loves diving into data, extracting valuable insights and using it to create impactful marketing strategies, you'll find yourself right at home.
With that in mind, I'm excited to announce that we have multiple open roles on my Innovation Growth Marketing team across many levels. If you have experience with paid acquisition or email marketing, I encourage you to apply. I look forward to welcoming new talented women to my team!
Rapid7 builds comprehensive cybersecurity platforms for customers worldwide.
What does your company do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
Rapid7 has an incredible women’s ERG that exists, in their own words, “to support, enable, and empower all Rapid7 Moose — our internal term for people, which remains the same in singular and plural forms — identifying as women to bring their best, true selves to work every day through community, action and activism.”
The women’s group has hosted and moderated multiple events during 2023 to celebrate women and elevate their voices and has a Slack channel where employees can regularly see articles and experiences being shared. An event the group hosted during Women’s History Month this year that stood out to me was a panel with female Rapid7 executives talking about how to embrace equity in the workplace and how they practice being equitable leaders.
Having events like this with open, honest conversations give our voices power and has given me access to a community of women who have gone before me and are fighting alongside me.
Having honest conversations give our voices power and gives us access to a community of women who have gone before us.”
How do your colleagues — and in particular company leadership — show that they are allies to women in the workplace?
One way my colleagues and leadership show that they are allies to women is by creating a safe space to openly talk about the prejudices and stereotypes women encounter in the workplace. At Rapid7, I have felt so supported by my leadership; they always have my back, whether it’s by listening and validating my experiences or by attending meetings and being added to emails/slacks
I have always felt that I am given the same opportunities as others, given development plans that build on my individual strengths, and appropriate assistance and accommodations as needed.

To fellow women in your field interested in your company, what would you share with them?
My field is one that is usually majority women, and most of my leadership are women. I have never doubted at Rapid7 that my voice is heard. I am asked for input, encouraged to ask questions and my ideas are welcomed and valued. My input influences Rapid7 processes and the employee experience. A chair is always saved for me at the table.