Gender equality remains a major issue in the corporate world, and women remain significantly underrepresented in the corporate pipeline. Despite an abundance of research confirming that companies are more profitable when they have more women in the C-suite, we still have a gender gap in most companies. Diversity and inclusion cannot be part of a one-time campaign; rather, they are causes that require continuous work that needs to be developed, maintained and cultivated.

Information technology is one of the fastest-growing industries, and technical innovation will play a crucial role in almost every sector of the economy.

While the percentage of women in the U.S. labor force has climbed to 46%, it is still significantly lower when it comes to the technology sector. The tech world is still a man’s world, and some of the reasons include the lack of female mentors, gender inequality in STEM jobs, and not having enough hands-on experience with STEM subjects.

Today, it is clear that superior innovation is achieved by having a diverse team where members can challenge each other and bring new perspectives. Here are three reasons more women are needed in tech:

Diversity Generates More Revenue

Compared to their peers, high-gender-diversity companies deliver slightly better returns, and they have outperformed, on average, less diverse companies over the past five years. Companies that not only hire but also manage to retain more women put themselves in a position to automatically gain a competitive advantage, a benefit that extends to all stakeholders.

Fortune 500 companies with at least three women in leading positions saw a 66% increase in ROI and have a purchasing power of an estimated $5 trillion. On top of that, it is hard to deny that women are also responsible for most of the household spending decisions. Not taking advantage of a female presence in the workplace seems like a gamble most businesses shouldn’t take.

Women Think Differently

By nature, interacting with a diverse team forces individuals to prepare better and anticipate alternative viewpoints. The presence of women makes individuals anticipate differences in opinion and perspective and makes them assume that they will need to work harder to come to a consensus. We can all benefit from that kind of pressure.

Men and women see things differently and bring unique ideas to the table. This enables better problem solving, which can boost performance at the business unit level. Imagine all of the buying power you will tap into by bringing together a mix of genders with various backgrounds and ethnicities. Better yet, after your company gains a reputation of having a more diverse workforce, you also gain an extremely powerful recruiting tool at your disposal.

We Need More Role Models

By celebrating female tech leaders, it will hopefully encourage more girls to pursue their interests and careers in tech, thus increasing the hiring pool diversity. We need to ensure young girls have strong role models of other successful women in STEM and that women have a seat at the table so they can engage men on the topic of gender equality.

Being a woman in IT is not always easy. Accountability also inspires action, and we need public policies to ensure employers are doing the right thing.