IBM

At IBM, women have been making contributions to the advancement of information technology for almost as long as the company has been in existence. Where many companies proudly date their affirmative action programs to the 1970s, IBM has been creating meaningful roles for female employees since the 1930s.

Our history supporting the advancement of women:

1899   Hired our first female employee

1934   IBM recruited its first female professional

1935   First written equal opportunity policy "Men and women will do the same kind of work for equal pay. They will have the same treatment, the same responsibilities and the same opportunity for advancement."  IBM founder, Thomas J. Watson Sr

This was almost 30 years before the US passed the Equal Pay Act

1943   First woman vice president, Ruth Leach -- we believe, the first woman to be appointed to such a position in corporate America

2006   Longtime IBMer, Fran Allen became the first woman to receive the prestigious Turing Award for technical contributions to the computing community

2012    First woman CEO appointed – Virginia Rometty

 

Industry Recognition

• IBM has joined the Ad Council and four other major tech companies working on #SheCanSTEM to bring more girls into STEM by showcasing the achievements of role models like DeLuca.
• IBM has been recognized by Working Mother magazine as one of the Top Companies for working mothers for 32 consecutive years.  In 2005, we were inducted into the Working Mother magazine Hall of Fame.
• IBM has been awarded as one of Working Mother magazine's Top Companies for Women of Color since 2003.
• IBM is a four-time Catalyst Award winner, recognizing innovative approaches for developing women.
• In 2018, IBM is once again one of NAFE’s Top 10 Companies for Executive Women, for the 12th year in a row.
  
  

IBM executives focus on women technical executive and technical pipeline

• We have programs to attracts mid-career professional women “back” to a technical career path, both inside and outside of IBM.
• We aggressively develop the pipeline of women technical leaders via personalized technical learning roadmaps for women re-entering the technical career path and provide personalized, local technical learning opportunities for all technical women.
• We provide opportunities for technical engagement, inside and outside of IBM, and expand individual awareness/understanding of the technical career path throughout the company.
• We ensure women technical leaders remain in and progress to positions of value, aligned with business demand. 

IBM develops leadership offerings to advance women

• We offer high touch, high impact development courses aimed to increase and retain the number of women progressing towards and attaining executive roles.  Our program results confirm higher promotion rates for talented women resulting from greater confidence, networking and influence, and higher retention rates resulting from greater sense of power, achievement and IBM’s commitment to their advancement.
  
  

IBM features women in our Academy of Technology

• We have a society of IBM technical leaders organized to advance the understanding of key technical areas, improve communications in and development of IBM's global technical community, and engage clients in technical pursuits of common value.
• The Academy promotes women in the THINK Series, which is internal and external livestream events.
• Provides emerging technical leaders and next generation of technologists playlists of women subject matter experts. Read more at http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/academy/index.html