5 reasons women make top team-first collaborators in tech

1. Women drive equality in conversations

One interesting study found that in working groups of two to five individuals, groups that had more women usually had more “equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking.” In other words, each member of the group was more likely to be given an opportunity to make a contribution if there were more women involved.

This isn’t just about taking turns. The study noted that this enabled the groups to make better use of the skills and knowledge of each member of the group, something that was less likely to occur in groups with less equitable conversations.

This deceptively simple aspect of collaboration is vital to get the entire team involved in problem-solving and decision-making. It can also help each member feel like a valued contributor to the group.

2. Female leaders encourage buy-in with the organization’s mission

CIOs are increasingly tested for their abilities to partner with their business executives to strike a balance between delivering innovative solutions and propelling enterprises into a new era, all while continuing to safeguard against threats of cybersecurity and privacy. They’ve also learned over the years to forge partnerships that balance the delivery of business outcomes with technological advancements. The age of AI brings the importance of this balance to even greater prominence. Female CIOs must leverage their influencing and communication skills to ensure new tech aligns with their organizational values and objectives.

Another aspect of how women fuel team-first collaboration stems from their ability to inspire buy-in with the organization’s vision and mission. One meta-analysis found that even though female leaders were often devalued relative to male counterparts due to gender stereotypes, women were generally better able to inspire people to buy into the organization’s mission by emphasizing its positive qualities.

“Organizational buy-in is a central part of creating a collaborative environment where everyone contributes their best effort,” says D. Sangeeta, co-founder of Gotara, an organization that helps women in STEM thrive. “Creating a stronger belief in the organization’s vision can make a critical difference in terms of productivity and team unity. By more effectively communicating these important aspects of the organization, I’ve seen several women leaders develop a culture that’s more collaborative.”

With greater buy-in, collaborative efforts can become more effective as everyone involved works with the same goals and vision.

3. People expect fair treatment from female leaders

Another aspect of female leadership that can strengthen internal collaboration stems from people’s expectations of how they’ll be treated. A study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin revealed that the mere presence of female leadership caused employees to expect they’d receive fairer treatment — including their salary and status within the company.

This resulted in greater trust in the organization as a whole. Speaking with the Society for Human Resource Management, Andrea Howe, founder of The Get Real Project, said that increased trust in the organization can have an immediate positive impact. “You’re much more likely to get innovation because with trust comes freedom. You can get massive productivity gains. Simply put, things move faster, more easily.”

When people expect fair treatment, they’re more likely to speak up during collaborative efforts because they know their input will be respected and valued.

4. Building trust biologically

Female leaders’ abilities to build trust and an environment that fuels collaboration may be partly due to biology. Research shows that the release of the brain chemical oxytocin helps reduce feelings of anxiety while it simultaneously builds feelings of trust, bonding, and collaboration.

More importantly to the role of tech collaboration, women actually release more oxytocin than men, meaning they naturally help create a more cooperative environment. On the other hand, men release testosterone, which can limit oxytocin production, particularly in competitive or stressful environments.

“Women tend to release more oxytocin than men, thus they directly contribute more empathy, cooperation, and trust in interpersonal interactions,” says psychologist Kenneth Nowack. “These hormonal differences might help explain the observed tendency for women to deploy more participative leadership behaviors relative to their male counterparts, and naturally use transformational practices that emphasize teamwork, cooperation, networking, and interpersonal support.”

5. A community-oriented approach

Another noteworthy aspect of women driving team-first collaboration is they tend to be more community-focused in the first place. But studies highlight how this can sometimes have negative consequences, where women take on a disproportionate amount of work compared to their male peers.

When applied in leadership, however, this community-driven mindset can have a powerful impact on collaboration. Decision-making becomes less of an authoritative mandate and more cooperative, helping to uncover new insights and ideas that lead to better solutions.

“When we can create a more collaborative environment in the workplace, it naturally leads to better decision-making as more voices are heard and everyone feels like a valued contributor,” says Yasmin Karimli, former VP of cybersecurity transformation at T-Mobile, and current CIO at SST Partners. “Women play a crucial role in cultivating this setting, but a proper framework must be implemented to ensure that all parties are treated fairly and do their proportionate share of the work. CIOs can be catalysts for innovation as well as trusted partners in their organization’s overall success and security.”

Let female leaders strengthen collaboration

Research clearly demonstrates that women can have a powerful impact on successful collaboration in tech, as well as other fields, hence the need for them to fill CIO and CTO roles. By ensuring women have an active presence, and their voices are heard within your tech teams, you can unlock stronger collaboration that drives your organization to innovate and achieve its most important goals.