In 1962, mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson helped send John Glenn to orbit the planet.

Seven years later, Margaret Hamilton’s (below) codes took us to the moon.

These are just two cases of women pioneering science.

Yet, the bias against women in modern medicine exists and is a documented fact. As journalist and writer Caroline Criado Perez points out, this bias has also seeped into modern tech.

While she talks about the issue more extensively in her book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, here are some ways that illustrate the same:

• • The average cell phone – at 5.5 inches long – is modeled around men’s hands.
  • Speech recognition software is trained with male voices, and less likely to understand women.
  • Fitness tracking devices underestimate steps during housework by up to 74%.

Here is a clear issue with representation and recognition of women. Given where we are as a tech-heavy society, the implications of bias against women in science and tech are real and visible.

As Criado Perez suggests, we have a problem – and the data proves it.

One fix is to go back to the Katherine Jonhson era and hire more female data programmers – today, women just make up 11% of software developers and 25% of Silicon Valley employees. Another is to rely on women-specific methods of drug testing & diagnoses.

But, as a man, who am I to say?