Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology by Vivek Wadhwa & Farai ChideyaPublished: September 9^th 2014 by Diversion BooksFrom one of Time Magazine’s “Forty Most Influential Minds in Technology” comes an essential collection of candid, first-hand accounts of women in technology.

Women in technology are on the rise in both power and numbers, and now it’s more important than ever to not lose that momentum, to “lean in” and close the gender gap. Although they make up half of the population, only 14% of engineers in the United States are women. They take the seeds of technological advancement and build something life changing, potentially life-saving. The future of technology depends on the full and active participation of women and men working together, and it is vital that women are both educated and encouraged to go into the tech sectors.

Hailed by Foreign Policy Magazine as a “Top 100 Global Thinker,” professor, researcher, and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa, alongside award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, set out to collect anecdotes and essays from global leaders, sharing how their experiences in innovative industries frame the future of entrepreneurship. With interviews and essays from hundreds of women in STEM fields, including Google[X] VP Megan Smith, venture capitalist Heidi Roizen, Patriarch Partners CEO Lynn Tilton, and entrepreneur and technology executive Kim Polese, Innovating Women offers fresh perspectives on the challenges that women face, the strategies that they employ in the workplace, and how an organization can succeed or fail in its attempts to support the career advancement of women.

I recently had the honour of reviewing this groundbreaking collective for my Women in Technology column, for Innovation and Technology. This is a book that I insist everyone must read. Inspiration and encouragement can be found on every page.

For those that dream big, but fear failures—read this collective and find your strength to start living your dream. It is refreshing to read accounts of failures on the pathway to success, it breeds hope for those just emerging in their career fields. Yes, this book is targeted for those in the tech world, but the ideals and accounts can apply universally to all entrepreneurs.

I hope for this text to one-day be mandatory reading in both high school and post secondary. Much can be learned and taken away from this collection.

It is quite a short read, I insist everyone must read! There is no excuse. This book is not just limited to a female audience, male readers can also benefit greatly from reading this text.