"I think if you're advertising in GQ you should probably be also looking at a women's magazine as a viable partner and look at women as serious consumers of technology," Teen Vogue Digital Editorial Director Phillip Picardi said at a Thursday night event in Washington, D.C. where he joined colleague Marie Suter in accepting an award on behalf of the magazine.

Spending a little more time engaging with women could even help some of the recruitment efforts, Picardi suggested, speaking at the Center for Democracy and Technology's annual "Tech Prom." They have to "recognize that young women aren't going to show up for you until you show up for them."

Why it matters: Women make up just a third of Facebook's global workforce, 31 percent of the employees at Google and 32 percent at Apple.