Oct 28 2022

Support More Women IT Leaders in Government, CIOs Say

Women make up only 37 percent of the top ranks of the federal government, known as the Senior Executive Service. This is according to Office of Personnel Management data shared earlier this year as part of the agency’s Executive Women in Motion: Pathways to the Senior Executive Service Toolkit. The kit “promotes the advancement of women and men in the Senior Executive Service,” according to an OPM memo.

We spoke to former CIOs, deputy CIOs and other top-ranking female feds who say the number of women CIOs in the federal government has fluctuated over time, and that advancement stems from a combination of key factors.

Check out more of our coverage from Imagine Nation ELC 2022 here.

Participants

    • Margie Graves, Senior Fellow, IBM, and Former Deputy Federal CIO, Office of Management and Budget
    • Essye Miller, Former CIO and CISO, Department of Defense
    • Maria Roat, Former Deputy Federal CIO, Office of Management and Budget
    • Robin Carnahan, Administrator, General Services Administration

     

Video Highlights

Women CIOs at Imagine Nation ELC 2022 told us that:

  • Mentors and advocates are key to removing the obstacles that women may face. Those women, in turn, should mentor female technologists coming up behind them.
  • Getting more women into leadership requires getting more young girls interested in STEM topics as soon as possible.
  • The federal government is providing more on-ramps to make itself more attractive to female candidates.