58% of women CEOs of million dollar companies consider technology as vital to the company's survival, both as a means of production as well as communication.

In the manufacturing industry [for example], it's less about using a hammer and nail and more about figuring out tech solutions, says Sandra Westlund-Deenihan, president and design engineer of Quality Float Works--No. 4,651 on the 2008 Inc. 5000 list.

This shift in reliance on brains rather than brawn has been an important factor in helping women establish a foothold in traditionally male-dominated industries.