Why such a disconnect I wonder?  After all I have spent 20+ years in IT related jobs and I thoroughly enjoyed it (hardware, software and anything computer related).  But I realize not everyone will have the same interest in life or their chosen path of careers.

But it doesn’t stop me from wondering why?  Is it the intimidation factor?  Is it that they are just not as interested in computers as the opposite sex?  Or is it that teenage girls/young women are not being encouraged to pursue a computer related career and/or degree?

The only solution that comes to my mind time and time again, that it is crucial to mentor to these young women about the possibilities of an IT career and an IT degree.

How do you feel about it?  Do you see any progress towards more women in IT?

“In the debate over the dearth of women in technology—just 11 percent of startup founders that take venture capital are women, as an example of one of the many lopsided statistics—one solution inevitably comes up: get ‘em while they’re young. While there are outliers, most of the tech greats got into technology early. Bill Gates went to one of the only high schools in the country that had a time sharing computer in 1968, for example.As guest columnist Sarah Kunst wrote on Betabeat, women need to get into the pipeline in order to get to the top. This idea, often raised during debates over the gender ratio in tech, makes Stuyvesant High School an interesting case study. All students at Stuyvesant are required to take a year of computer science. As it turns out, the advanced computer science classes skew mostly male anyway. But for a year, boys and girls get exposed to computer programming together.”

Read the full article: Eight Real Tales of Learning Computer Science as a High School Girl.

Certainly worth checking out. Why not pull ahead and add a few women stars to your executive team? Is it just purely sexism? Why are we failing to engage with and support one of our biggest assets and untapped resources. I refuse to say it’s just sexism. This business is about making money. I would hire a monkey if it was qualified…. I don’t care at all where you come from and what you look like, if you are great at what you do, then come on in. It’s extremely hard to find talent in the bay area, and if you are looking for a programmer, forget it, you have to toss a wide, wide net to get even a contender.

In a nutshell here is where we are :

Women Technology Executives

She clearly understands goods created intellectually need to be exported because the local Israeli market is very small, and regional trade doesn’t exist. She also believes that Israel is not just a startup nation, it’s a “restart nation“.  This is due, largely, to the cultural heritage of Israel, which requires that people learn how to read situations differently, and think of things in a different context. This has been a part of Israeli culture for many generations, since The Diaspora.

Dr. Orna Berry opens EMC’s 6th Annual Innovation Conference in Israel

Join me as we catch up to Dr. Orna Berry at EMC Forum – Israel:

Dr. Orna Berry EMC Forum Israel

A little more about Dr. Orna Berry

Dr. Orna Berry is a recognized entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in Israeli science, technology and venture capital.  Known for her efforts to promote excellence, entrepreneurship and innovation in Israeli society Dr. Berry has held a wide range of positions with significant social and public impact throughout her career.  One of the hall marks of Orna’s career was her 4 year tenure as Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Israeli government where she managed an annual budget of a ½ Billion dollars.  Having served as the Chairperson of the Israeli Venture Capital Funds Association she continues to follow her passion and is currently the Chairperson of the Israel Australia Chamber of Commerce.

As we delved into increasingly technical and precise coding tasks, I was reminded that the deeper I go into programming the more it reminds me of crochet. At the end of the day they are both series of algorithms based on iterations of precise instructions that can build pretty amazing things if done correctly, and if you screw up one tiny little element the whole thing breaks. And sometimes you can’t fix it. Or even know where you went wrong. But sometimes you create something even more amazing than what you were trying for in the first place.

There are examples of algorithms all around us, not all of which are represented mathematically or in code form. I think being familiar with crochet has actually helped my coding skills immensely, because it made algorithms seem less alien or intimidating. (Though it’s the other way around, really: I learned to crochet after I took my first computer science class, which was algorithm-tastic). I’m not saying that every coder should go out and learn to crochet (though the scarves do make nice Christmas presents) but I think that if more examples of the algorithms that surround us in daily life had been presented to me early in my education, I would have found it much easier to picture myself in a coding career, and to make more informed decisions about what that could entail and how I could prepare myself.

Why, I hear you saying, is this important? With women accounting for less than 20% of the workforce in ICT jobs in the UK (and most OECD countries), anything that can be done to try to make coding a more attractive career option is pretty vital right now. Luckily there are a lot of Top Brains looking into this–but that doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. I would be really interested in hearing from other women in technology about how they became interested in coding or ICT work, and which aspects of getting into the workforce they perceived as most challenging. And perhaps most of all, what they think could be done or what they are doing to combat some of those difficulties.

While I was at this course, I also got into a really interesting conversation with one of my colleagues about the nature of data representation. This person and I agreed that, for people who are not Data Wizards, it is absolutely vital to present information in a digestible format. (This is actually also true for Data Wizards, but what we consider digestible is not always the same as other people.) I firmly believe that, no matter how good your data is, if you can’t present it in a format that the recipients understand, it’s it’s like you’ve said nothing at all. If the goal of information is to affect decisions or behavior, that goal can be helped with better data–but it can only be REACHED if the data is digested and understood.

My colleague and I agreed that often the biggest naysayers of more effective data presentation are the Data Wizards themselves. They are used to numbers. They like spreadsheets. They want tables. Everyone else in the business is all excited about little charts in the shape of flowers, or wookies, or turkeys in Pilgrim hats, or whatever data they’re working on that week, but the Data Wizards are digging in their heels and grumbling mightily about the whole thing. It can take a while to convince the Data Wizards that data presentation is not a bunch of fluffy gumph designed to hide the numbers. In fact other people (‘business stakeholders’) will actually be interested and will want to listen to the Data Wizards more if they present information in a way that allows people to intuitively grasp what the numbers are saying. If you can get the Data Wizards on board with this idea, you can create some very powerful Data Wizards indeed.

(PS: you can ignore everything I said in my previous post about relational databases and not storing everything in one GIANT table, because, unlike most other data querying structures, as I learned on my course that’s exactly what QlikView DOES want.)

Late Nights

During a recent meeting with the founder of another startup, I jokingly asked, “Have you started sleeping all night yet?”

He laughed. “No, and most nights, I don’t even think about going to bed until well past midnight.”

It may seem like an odd thing to be thankful for, but having something that matters, something that we’ve put our all into enough that whether it works or not keeps us up at night – I’ve come to be grateful for what those sleepless nights have done for me. There is an edge to living, and intensity of daily burdens that comes when we choose to start our own business. And when we’ve found others who believe in us and our vision enough to throw their lot in with ours, to back us and help us and encourage our efforts, it not only creates a tremendous burden of responsibility, it also gives us courage to move forward when doubts and fears might get the better of us. So when I find I can’t sleep, when solving a problem for my company weighs heavy or, in the dark of night, I find myself thinking through options to be sure I’ve weighed the costs and benefits before moving forward, I am grateful for the purpose and clarity of vision those late nights bring. If you’re in the early days of founding your own company or have been at it for a while, try embracing the quiet of the night and the value you’re gaining from the thoughts that are keeping you up while everyone else sleeps.

Supportive Networks

Founding a startup is a lonely business, whether we are going it alone or have co-founders to help carry the load. So much of our time is spent in our own heads, working through the big ideas and solving the sometimes seemingly insurmountable problems that lie between that big idea and success – it can be very easy to become disconnected from others. The longer I’ve spent growing my company, the more I’ve come to value the support and encouragement available through the myriad of networks and groups with common interests to my own, both locally and nationally. Along the way, the friendships and connections I’ve made with individuals have greatly enriched my life and opened my eyes to the struggles and challenges others are facing that are not unlike my own. The shared experiences go a long way in bolstering our courage when we need it and give us a great sounding board when we have something to celebrate. If you haven’t joined a local group, think about it; you may be surprised at the energy you can draw from your connections from others.

Vocal Naysayers

It’s easy to be thankful for those who have our back, who believe we can move mountains with a single stick of dynamite and drink our Kool Aid by the gallon, but I’ve increasingly grown to appreciate the naysayers and curmudgeons who are a part of our network. To be sure, in too big of doses, they can sap us of our focus and energy, but those who are skeptical, who find fault, who complain – they keep us grounded in reality and force us to answer the tough questions. I’ve learned to welcome the negativity, assess the complaints for validity, and to challenge my own thinking when the complaints are proven to have merit. It is much better to have a friend find fault while we have time to pivot and change than to crash and burn due to our own failure to consider the flaws of our own ideas. If there is a naysayer you’re struggling with, learn to embrace the challenge of hearing them out. Maybe what they have to complain about is pure nonsense, but maybe not. You’ll never know if you don’t listen.

Loyal Clients

It takes a unique customer to be willing to take a chance on a startup. When you don’t have a proven record, all you have to offer is the quality of your product and your own integrity. And, thus, I’ve grown to truly appreciate our first handful of clients who helped my company establish a reputation and a track record. Some of our first clients were cultivated and others sought us out, but all of them have my utmost gratitude for their faith in me, their confidence in our product, and their loyalty to us as we grow.

And beyond the benefits I’ve gained from founding a startup, this Thanksgiving, I am deeply thankful for family, for precious, loyal friends, for my wonderful children and for a spouse who believed enough in me to agree that having two startups in one household was something he was willing to take on. Without his support, encouragement and help, without his tough questions and willingness to be my endless sounding board, I would never be at the place where I can write a Thanksgiving column celebrating what I’ve learned after four years of bootstrapping a startup in one of the toughest economies our generation has seen. It hasn’t been an easy road, and I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but today I find myself grateful for it all.

“Women earn the majority of bachelor degrees in the U.S., but only 24% of females work in technical fields. “Girls and boys at 12 or 13 like math and science the same, but then something shifts. There’s a cultural perception that a coder or engineer looks like a white male,” says Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code and former New York City Deputy Public Advocate. So she founded Girls Who Code, a summer program with backing from Twitter, General Electric, Google, and eBay that wants to help close the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics STEM gap by giving high school girls ages 13 to 17 the opportunity to learn more about what engineering and technology careers have to offer–and by giving them the confidence to pursue their goals.”

Read: Turning Young Girls Into Future Coding Superstars

“As CSA, it is Calder’s job to provide independent scientific advice to ministers, champion science as a key driver of the economy, and ensure the Scottish Government uses science effectively in all policy-making. However, while Calder, who took up the role in March, relishes the opportunity to raise the profile of her subject, arguably the most neglected and misunderstood of the sciences, she is reluctant to make too much of her status as the second female CSA in a row. “I think it’s something to be celebrated but, kind of, that’s it. I’m a scientist first, and like every profession having people from diverse backgrounds in that profession is good, full stop.”

Read: It is my mission to explain a little about what’s underneath the bonnet | Herald Scotland.

It didn’t take a lot to get started – just a phone call to the regional representative and an address where the contract and sample papers should be delivered. When the first set arrived, I surveyed the stack of papers sitting in our garage and started to dream. I could finally buy my own Easy Bake Oven – I hadn’t quite grasped the concept that when Mom said no, it meant no even if I was spending my money – and have money to spend at the dime store and the school’s book fair. I’d fallen for the seductive entrepreneurial dream of getting rich quick without understanding the price it takes to reach that goal. I’m glad I got that out of the way early in my life, because it helped me be a lot more realistic when I decided to launch future endeavors.

Entrepreneurship is rarely about getting rich quick, and there really are no overnight successes – just motivated, hard-working creative people who have put their heart, soul and most of their money into a big idea they deem worthy of the effort.

I remember my first time out on my paper route.  I knocked on the door of an elderly lady and asked her if she’d like to buy the Grit Magazine in my wagon for only a quarter (already counting up the number of Tootsie Rolls I could buy with the ten cents profit I would make from her purchase).

She stopped me cold. ”What’s in the newspaper, young girl?”

What was in it?  I didn’t read it.  It was for old people.  I stammered and stuttered an answer.  “I don’t really know.”

She gave me a hard look and barked, “Then you’d better learn a lesson.  If you want somebody else to buy what you’re selling, then you’d best know what you’re talking about.  You need to read that thing from cover to cover so you can get excited and tell me why I want my own copy.”

As she closed the door, she left a parting shot of hope.  “Now you go home and read that magazine, young lady, and then come back.”

I didn’t try to sell any more newspapers that day.  Instead, I fought back tears all the way home.  I grabbed one of the papers off the top of the stack, found a nice shady spot under our tree, and started reading, devouring the content that afternoon from cover to cover.

I’d learned a vital lesson that every entrepreneur must learn: eat your own dog food and do more research than your competitor, because if you can’t talk the talk and walk the walk, you shouldn’t expect anyone else to buy what you’re selling or believe what you say.

The next day after school, I loaded up my wagon. With renewed purpose, I marched up the driveway and rang the doorbell of the woman who had sent me home in tears.  She seemed a bit surprised I’d returned, and after I told her why she needed to buy one of my Grit Magazines, she tottered away from the door.  My heart sank. I almost walked away, and it would have been a big mistake that many entrepreneurs make.

Tough questions and initial resistance are not signs of rejection or failure. It is the time to be persistent and patient. Your customer will tell you with great certainty when the answer is no; until then, assume it is your job to continue respectfully engaging them in a discussion about your product or giving them time to digest the information you’ve shared.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity, staring at the faded wallpaper in her doorway. And then I heard her shuffling back and watched her long, gnarled fingers struggle with her change purse. I graciously accepted the proffered quarter held out to me, thanked her and hurried off to the next house. I continued to ring her doorbell every week, and she continued to buy my papers until we finally moved away.

Sometimes our toughest prospects turn out to be our most loyal clients. Why? Because we’ve already answered all their questions and allayed their fears. Once they’re in, they’re convinced and committed.

I sold my entire stack of magazines that afternoon and ordered more for the next issue.  And when the delivery came, I read the issue cover to cover before I left the house.  And sold out again.

It was a valuable lesson I learned that day, one that has served me well many times since then.  She seemed like such a crank at the time, but I know now that the grouchy lady down the street was doing me a favor.  And I wish I could thank her, but I think the skip in my step as I walked down her driveway was probably all the thanks she needed to know she’d done the right thing.

I still use the lessons I learned as a young girl. When I founded APPCityLife in 2009, I spent a great deal of my time talking about mobile before most even knew what it was or why it would matter in a few years. But I kept learning and talking and meeting with leaders of companies and communities, answering the tough questions and listening to what my customers were telling me about their problems that needed solved in mobile. And as I begin implementing some exciting new changes to my company, they are all due to listening to the customer and finding a Big Idea that not only meets their needs but disrupts the status quo.

We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that if we are not solving a real problems for real customers and hearing what it is they need, we won’t survive as an entrepreneur no matter how good our product or how sexy our sales pitch. In the end, it’s the same lesson I learned when I was eight years old: do your homework, be persistent and reliable, be honest and then go do something brilliant.

Marie Curie was born in 1867 to a Polish family that counted to the social group of Intelligentsia. Her father was a teacher of mathematics and physics and her mother was a school principle. She finished high school at the age of only 15, but unfortunately she was not allowed to attend university as a woman in Poland, she participated in private lessons by her father as well as secretly some classes at a private, underground university….

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I took notes during the entire panel discussion, and attempted to go back and make some sense of them. Some panelists were so full of facts, that it may seem to jump a bit. I apologize if any of it is hard to read, also for this post coming out a few days later than I had hoped.

Before the session started, Rob Farley (@Rob_Farley) sat down to chat with those of us on the blogger panel. He said to us, “I think the whole point of kilt day is so that we men feel the objectivity that women feel often. I can’t believe how many people have come up to me and said ‘nice legs’.” He also said, “I feel proper objectified.”

The W.I.T. Luncheon was in a huge room. The tables were round with the two chairs on the stage-side gone. It was set up in a way that no one had their back to the stage. What a great idea!

First up to speak was Bill Graziano (@billgraziano), president of the PASS Board. He said this was the 10th annual WIT luncheon. He told us that he tried to go to the first one, but he was the only man, so he left. He’s been to every one since.

Wendy Pastrick (@wendy_dance) (WP) was  the moderator. She talked a bit about the W.I.T. efforts, and the Virtual Chapter. They used to wear buttons that said, “Ask me about W.I.T.” Not too many years ago, there were just under 100 people attending the W.I.T. Luncheons, this time, there were over 750! This year’s lunch was sponsored by @SQLSentry and PASS. She also thanked the organizers of many SQLSaturdays that support W.I.T. and their efforts.

The Panel Members and Discussion

Stefanie Higgins (SH) – founder of WIT Luncheon. Was a “closet computer science (C.S.)” major. She was an English major, hung out with C.S. students, and learned COBALT from them. She got married, but went back to school later. This time, it was a different story. She took an MCM course, and was the only female. She was ignored by the teacher almost the whole time. Later in the course, she was finally acknowledged.

WP: Said she is thrilled to have men and women talking about W.I.T. issues. People with questions or comments on W.I.T. topics can tweet it using the #PASSWIT hashtag. It will be monitored on twitter, and answered by members of the Community.

Denise McInerney (DM) (@denisemc06) – founder of WIT virtual table and a PASS Board member. Years ago, the W.I.T. luncheon impressed her, and inspired her to start volunteering. Very few women were speakers at the PASS Summit  inthe earlier years. Created an opportunity to be able to talk about some potentially uncomfortable topics, and ways of thinking in a forum where other people wanted to talk about the same issues. PASS’s focus on Community has helped grow female attendance. At the 2011 Summit 15% (50% ?)  were women. This percentage was the same for both attendees and speakers. About 25% of people in technology are women. Women also leave twice as fast in the industry. Women are high users, but not creators of technology. Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook talking about WIT issues, is helping drive the desire to collect statistics. Programs like Digigirlz, Blackgirlscode, etc. are trying to encourage girls at a younger age towards technology. We want women and members of W.I.T. to go out and volunteer, and to contribute to conversations about getting people into technology.

“This is not just a woman’s issue, it’s a communication issue.”

Kevin Kline (KK) (@kekline)- founder and former president of PASS. “Back in the day”, other professional associations were having conferences. They were mainly “cold”, cliquey, etc. He wondered how could SQL compete? He thought to himself, “We don’t have that many people, but we have great attitudes, and we can be very welcoming.” We need to invite people in. It’s kind of like “church shopping,” if you don’t feel welcome, you probably won’t come back. He talked about another group of techies who act like, “Disturb me in my cave, and I’ll turn you into a toad!” The fact that so many people are using the #SQLFamily hashtag says a lot to show that they met their goals. Kevin told us he has 1 boy, 6 girls (did I really type that right?)! Gave an example of how girls talk, boys would not have that conversation – they would be grunting at a game controller “Must kill monster.” Teams with women on them are more successful than those that don’t. Women think a different way. They ask about feelings, etc… It’s not an issue of girls asking themselves, “Do I want to be in technology?”  it’s how their friends feel about that. Their friends want to talk about One Direction, not about the cool things they can do with computers.

Panel members have heard that this year is the first time women had to stand in line for the bathroom. That shows growth!

There was recently a story about a little girl with Star Wars lunch box, she was getting harassed by other students for it. Her parents started a group of people to talk about anything they are interested in. The focus was in getting people to be open to what other people are interested in!

Jen Stirrup (JS) (@jenstirrup) – new PASSion Award winner, MVP, European groups. She says that 25% of jobs in science/engineering are held by women. Computer Science jobs in particular are worse. Scottish are trying to make sure that IT is accessible. PASS is very supportive of WIT. We can come together, build networks, encourage and energize each other. Jen talked about how SQLSat Events all over the world are holding W.I.T. discussions in various formats. In Sweden, there were 5 in attendance. In Portugal, everybody at that SQL Sat came to W.I.T.! Wow! Poland, had 70 people at event. Across the board, the idea is to encourage and keep Women In Technology. When you help W.I.T., you are helping women find financial independence and look after themselves. We all love IT, we all have similar experiences, let’s talk about them.

Aside: Jen has an adorable accent, but it was a bit difficult to hear/understand with the dishes clanking behind us.  The bus stations for the servers was right behind us. I’m not usually one to complain, but being someone who’s already easily distractible, it took every bit of my ability to focus to try to get the facts straight.  After the event, we talked with the organizers about the possibility of having the blogger table in a different location next year, maybe towards the front?

Kendra Little (KL) (@Kendra_Little) – MCM, MVP, entrepreneur – Thought about the theme of this year’s W.I.T Lunch “10 Years of Technology.” She said that  10 years ago, she knew she loved working with data, but didn’t know what she wanted to do with it. She saw herself as an employee… She was always asking, “How can I learn this??? How can I figure this out???” She learned a lot through teamwork… Kendra would tell herself, “I know what I’m doing, I know I’m smart…” A lot of what changed her mindset to “I can own my own business” came from PASS [Summit] and speaking at SQL Saturdays. These opportunities made her think, “I have things to offer.” Kendra encouraged talking to speakers. When people ask the speakers questions, or talk to them about what they are talking about, they are giving feedback on how they can get better, as well as what they’re doing right. Gaining confidence as a speaker, also builds confidence in your career. This community supports and encourages that. Figure out what you can share with other people. A lot of what we know in data, may not be obvious to others… start speaking, it does great things, it’s magical. Aside: I was REALLY wishing I had Jason Strate’s (@StrateSQL) magic unicorn button right here. It says, “Never stop believing, miracles are everywhere.”

Questions From the Audience

Q: This question came from a teacher in a company who has trained 8 DBA’s all the way through. Only 1 of those was a women…. “What can I do to encourage more women to want to become DBA’s?”
DM: Ask them what’s stopping them? Going into a class that’s all men is intimidating. One on one mentoring can be more helpful, give them opportunities, let them know it’s ok…give them a safe place to discuss their fears, etc.
KK: This question came up in another discussion. Find out what motivates them. Money might not be a motivator. The thing that turned me off was I thought I’d have to be a cubical drone… I want to help people. I want to save the world. What’s the appeal? It’s not the benefits. Present it more from the standpoint of, “Data is the lifeblood of this organization… how would you like to be a part of that?” The happiest people are people who feel helpful. We help people, it feels good. Men are more rational; I’m gonna be inspired by a big raise, women are inspired by values.
SH: I get paid… a lot… to do what I love.

Q: Want to start WIT luncheon type thing in another country, but don’t know how to go about it. Some days I love it, some days, I hate it.
A: WIT.sqlpass.org has materials available. You can also email WIT@sqlpass.org with any questions or concerns.

Buck Woody (@buckwoody): brought daughter to SQLSat to “help”. Now she’s going into CS. Thanked women on panel, especially Jen for being inspirational, and creating such welcoming environments for girls/women. As a dad, he is grateful .

Q: Work/life balance – it’s hard when we sometimes work for 15-16 hours/day. It’s hard to ask for flex time, especially in IT because of the level of customer support, etc. we need to be able to provide.
JS: Staff turnover is higher in companies that are less sensitive than others. She left and started her own business where she can create her own contracts, schedules, etc.
KL: Wants people to stay motivated and stick around. Doesn’t want everyone to feel they need to work harder than they want to. Collect data on how much time you are spending doing travel, repeatable work, etc. Create a proposal based on that. Helps you know how much time you are spending on a Baseline your work day. Use webcam and other visibility tools during meetings when working remote. It builds creativity and credibility with your boss and your clients.

DM: The #3 reason people leave is lack of flex time, it is a  huge concern for employees.

KK: Part of the proposal [Kendra suggested you create] is that to prove how you will be more efficient at home. Begin with ways to allow employer to back out if it doesn’t work out. Saying something like,  ”Lets try this for one month.” Show them that you are more efficient. Show them how it is beneficial for you AND them.

Q: Wants to be able to share the knowledge with other people about the things that she’s learned… wants advice and starting up a group
A: Lynn Lange is leader of Digigirlz. There’s also girls who code, Black Girls Code, and many other resources available.

Q: How do we bring the girls into tech? It has been a huge struggle…. They want to be famous, they want to be cool…

A: Bring Girl Scouts to this event… they can see they can become rich, famous, and cool, even in IT. They also can often earn badges for helping at SQLSaturdays and other events.

Jen McCown (@midnightDBA): Can we start talking about at a higher level, tapping into college groups- pull them into user groups, etc. Create partnerships with student groups to sponsor SQL Saturdays, and also get them into our groups?

Comment from audience: Video games are often a start to getting people into computers interest. Ask girls to play video games with you. It’s a win/win, since it’s time spent together, but also gets them interested in “computers.”

Q: It may not be that everyone is interested/wired that way. (Somehow, I lost the context of the rest of this question/comment)
JS: Maybe they aren’t interested in IT, maybe it’s engineering, science, etc. Girls seem to be disconnected from science/technology. She likes the Dr. Suess quote, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.”
KL: People think women are too emotional – as if when a database drops, they won’t be able to handle it… most women I have met have been really great at that… it’s really not an issue.
DM: In the 80′s number of women in IT is much higher… something’s going on… They weren’t wired that much different. You don’t need to be cold and unemotional to be in the industry.

Q: Talking about organizational dynamics – “When I’m on a team, and it’s mostly guys, team cohesion comes from hanging out, etc. Activities tend to be competitive (Go Cart racing as an example of team building activities). Not my natural habitat… it feels as if these events are set up to make women feel on the outside again…
DM: This could be seen as an example of one of the small subtle things that happens that makes people feel like an outcast. Maybe suggest “other” ideas. Sometimes, people are not conscious of these decisions as making you feel outside.
KK: Those kinds of activities may be outside of the comfort zone of the others on the team too… women tend to be the conscience of the group. Make other suggestions.
JS: Maybe suggest more environmental teambuilding activities. Volunteer as a group to build cohesion.

Comment from the audience: Daughter was surrounded by computers, but not interested. Was in science, later went into marketing, then marketing website, then decided to start a company to market websites for others… it’s kind of come full circle.

Q: Culture plays an important role as well. In Indonesia , this audience member was one of a few in IT. What can PASS do from a Global Growth perspective?
A: In some countries, women work in segregated offices. Women work with only women, no contact with men. Maybe they are being funneled into certain choices. They don’t have the same visibility.

Q: How do you silence critics of WIT initiatives?
DM: Don’t silence them. Invite them into the conversation. Find out what’s the issue? Show it’s not just a complaint session. Get to the bottom of their concerns. If it’s an out and out attack, then just say”everyone has an opinion” and let it go.
SH: Most people seem to leave inspired and encouraged. Talk about what it is they do, when they understand what they do and what they’re about, it might help put their mind as ease.
KL: Encourage them to get involved. Helps them understand what’s really going on.
JS: The issues discussed are not just women in technology issues, they’re people in technology issues. Women just represent a smaller group.

Comment from audience: Encourage girls to do whatever it is they want to do. Later, they will realize everyone has their own talents… Show our daughters what we do, but also encourage them to be who they are, and do what they love. We can present ourselves as women who are strong in technology. The economy has hurt some, but options are changing. We are all smart people, and there are a lot of smart people we can bring in.

Q: This audience member had a question about balancing young children with a demanding job. She feels the pressure that if she’s at home, she should be studying and learning more. She wants to back off of some of her professional demands and spend more time with her family. How can you take time off, or back away, and come back at a later time?

SH: Did some PT consulting while she was mostly home with her kids with special needs. Set aside a certain evening, or a certain amount of time to “Catch up on blogs” or other learning needs, rather than feeling like you need to do it all. What kind of jobs are going to have security in the future? Talk to your employer about needs you might have. How can you work less… show the benefits to your employer of working from home, or working less hours.
KL: We are in a field that is incredibly valuable. They can’t find good people with experience, be safe in production, etc. Knowledge is important… investing in PASS etc is smart. Attending events like this is valuable and will keep people interested in you. Even if you want to take some time off, keep learning.

WP: Think about where are we going? Tweet, blog, keep conversation going!

My Thoughts:

I think this W.I.T. panel discussion was great! There were times it could have taken a direction that might have been less than awesome. I thought all the panelists did a great job of keeping everything positive. I thought Kevin Kline was a great addition to the panel. I think it was the first time I have been to a W.I.T. panel with a man on the panel. I loved his viewpoints and humor! I can’t imagine living in a house with all those girls.

I really liked how Wendy kept an eye on twitter, and pointed out comments from twitter in between questions/discussion points. She also brought out one question that was asked via twitter. Great job! Way to include everyone!

I always enjoy when Kendra is on various panels. She brings in a very real viewpoint, but also keeps things away from men vs women viewpoints, and rather, just talks about how to be a professional. Love her!!

Great job to all! I hope to be able to keep blogging about these conversations!

Ok, I assume that you are not necessarely familiar with spread spectrum communications technology. But, maybe you are wondering even more about a Hollywood movie star diva, who should be responsible for the development of this kind of advanced technology…and even more so already in the early 1940s. Well, Hedy Lamarr really was an extraordinary woman. She was born as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna into a well of Jewish family as a beloved only child. Her mother was a renowned pianist and her father a successful bank director. Already at the age of 16 she started a successful career in acting….

[Read More]

Firstly, can you give a brief description of what you do at Screenmedia?

At Screenmedia I am involved in the specification, development and maintenance of a number of Umbraco CMS driven websites. As part of this role I also conduct training sessions with our clients. An average (productive) day for me at the ‘meedja’ will consist of 1000 lines of code, 3 cups of tea and a few too many Kit-Kats.

Were you intimidated by entering what is still considered to be a male dominated industry?
Big time. I can’t deny that when I first started my career I had a very big chip on my shoulder and felt I had a lot to prove because I was a girl.  This personal vendetta gradually withered with the help from all the fantastic developers I met along the way. No one ever treated me different and the best thing I’ve learned is to never be afraid to ask for help. Let your insecurities go and just ask because people, male or female, are always willing to help you and no one will ever judge you for it.

Did you feel like it was male dominated or has the male/female ratio been relatively equal in your experience?
In my third year at University there were about 80 people in my class. 5 of them were girls.

My first job as a graduate software developer I was the only female developer and only female in my side of the building. To put that into perspective there was about 60 men on our side of the building, 40 of those were developers.

Screenmedia has been the first place I’ve worked where the odds have started to even out.

When did you decide that you wanted to be a Developer and what influenced your decision?
When I run into old childhood friends they are often surprised at my career choice. When I was younger I loved all things creative and fancied a career in fine art. However I could never leave my lust for problem solving and mathematics behind. All the drawing and painting couldn’t satisfy the analytical side of my brain. So one day I decided to apply for a degree in Computing Science at Glasgow University. For about the first 6 months I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. It wasn’t until I took a class in Human Computer Interaction that I knew I had a place in this industry. I realised that being a developer required more than just code, code and more code. It required psychology and well thought out design and it was that moment that I realised it was the perfect fit for me.

What do you think could/should be done to get more women into the technology industry?
So making a “Computer Engineer” Barbie was definitely a nice attempt at getting girls on our side but it’s really not enough. I feel if youngsters got more exposure to the kind of jobs out there and creative environments they could work in then I think more girls would aspire to have a career in technology.

I’ve even considered myself getting more involved in the cause and making visits to schools. Even to spend 5 minutes with a girl like-minded as myself to tell her about the opportunities out there and roles that could suit her skill set would be so worthwhile.

We need to get rid of the stigma that it’s a geek-fest. I’m a girl who loves shopping, baking, arts and crafts and I couldn’t be happier being a developer. It’s not just for World Of Warcraft lovers!

________________________________________________________________

Polly Purvis is Executive Director of ScotlandIS – the expert voice that supports the success of Scotland’s ICT industry.

Were you intimidated by entering what is still considered to be a male dominated industry? 

Not at all –  I didn’t see it as an issue and whilst the industry needs many more women I have never felt that being a woman has  been a disadvantage in my career.

Did you feel like it was male dominated or has the male/female ratio been relatively equal in your experience?
There’s no doubt that the industry has too few women in it, but many technology companies have women working in a wide range of roles. However there’s still a lot more to do to address the gender imbalance.

When did you decide to focus on a career in IT and what attracted you to the industry?
I didn’t  - I ‘stumbled’ into by chance having worked in financial services and economic development previously, but I’ve loved every minute – it’s a very exciting, fast paced industry with lots of fascinating people working in it.

Executive Director of ScotlandIS is an incredibly impressive achievement. What has been your personal greatest achievement in this role?
ScotlandIS role is to promote the industry and it’s very much a team effort.  We’re building our membership and campaigning on skills, procurement and the value of the digital economy.  Ask me again in a couple of years?

What do you think could/should be done to get more women into the technology industry?
I think the time has come for some positive discrimination – recent evidence shows that companies with women in senior roles are more profitable[1] so this should be a straightforward business decision.  We need a programme that encourages women to give serious consideration to careers in the industry, starting at schools, in college and university as well as seeking to attract women from other industries.

Amber Case (www.caseorganic.com) by rocketcandy on Flickr

IT no longer means a career in a dark, stuffy room slumped at your computer, occasionally stepping outside to fix somebody else’s. This is 2012 – technology is everywhere. The day the iPhone 5 was released that was the only thing anyone was writing or reading about.

It was all anybody cared about.

The news was not gender specific.

So why do men still account for 84% of the UK’s IT professionals?

IT isn’t what you think it is

It has been said that women are scientifically proven to use the right side of their brain – the creative side. Well that’s what technology is now and it needs to be recognised. Key qualities of a good technologist at the moment are “creativity, idea generation, multitasking, problem solving and a general keenness to find new ways of doing things”. Of course these are traits that any gender can possess, but it’s perhaps traits that some women don’t realise are as imperative to technology as they are.

FACT: Since 2001, the number of female IT graduates entering the profession has fallen by almost half.

Geeks are cool and technology is girly

Lady Geek’s “Little Miss Geek” campaign is striving to change the perception of the technology industry. However, even the name ‘Little Miss Geek’ gives the impression of cutesy little girls and doesn’t particularly bode well for being taken seriously. I appreciate the hard work going into this campaign and I fully support it, but I feel like nobody has quite decided on the correct message that we need to send.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I know what message we should be sending; but I do think that confusing, contradicting messages won’t help matters. There’s no use telling girls that IT is something that it technically isn’t just to get them in the door – they’re smart, they’ll soon realise that they’ve been lied to.

They do need to be told the truth, and the truth is that if they want a career in IT that doesn’t mean they’ll have to code all day and learn the rules of World of Warcraft to join in on the conversations at lunch.

A new Art Department

The general consensus that I’ve gathered from talking to women in the industry is that we need to engage with the girls at school.

Their first impression girls should have of IT isn’t the dark, dated classroom in the Bermuda Triangle of the school that you always get lost trying to find (maybe because you don’t actually want to find it).

This needs to change. It should be another Art Department; somewhere creative where they can get away from any problems they might be having and just spend some time designing, developing and problem solving in their own world.

What can we do?

It’s all well and fine telling each other the way things should be, but how do we make it so?

• Find a way to get into the schools, present the reality of the industry to the younger generation and show them the vast opportunities that are available to them in the technology industry.

• Revamp the IT departments of schools. They need to be as exciting and up to date as the industry is.

• Encourage exciting and creative IT work experience placements. Gone should be the days of being sent to an office for 5 days of learning how to make a smashing cup of coffee.

Whether you’re a woman currently making a mark in the technology industry, know one who deserves some recognition or are a student who’s looking to make her way into the industry in the near future, we’d love to hear from you.

E-mail christina@enigmapeople.com to get involved.

If you’re interested in opportunities in the technology industry please send your CV to ramassa@enigmapeople.com

Interesting Links

Wwwonder Women: Top 30 Women In Digital Under 30
Lady Geek
Geek Goddesses – The Guardian
Why don’t girls want to be geeks? – BBC
A primer on sexism in the tech industry – by an actual girl
More women needed in technology – BBC

Today I visited my wife’s 8th grade class to show them how to use Koduto create/program their own games. One of the first questions from a girl was “can we use it to tell stories?” From a boy I got “can we make things fight?” Sigh Yes boys and girls do seem to be a bit different from each other. Middle school is when, in my experience, they are most different. Though of course there is a spectrum among both boys and girls so we do have to be very careful about pigeon holing anyone. It’s a fine line to walk at times.

Read the full blog post here: Computer Science Teacher: Computing Projects for Girls.

Because nothing says “fund me” like going to meetings wasted off of Chandon at 2PM on a Tuesday.

Not long from now Bravo’s new show, Startups: Silicon Valley, will be splashing across national television and painting a controversial picture of what life in tech is supposedly like.

There’s been a huge backlash against the show. Critics from inside and outside of the industry have been quick to abhor the show’s Jersey Shore-esque rendition of the tech lifestyle, the complete discrepancy between the cast and the Bay Area’s heavily Asian population, and the fact that Bravo lavishly misrepresents what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur.

While I agree that I’m extremely concerned about how Bravo may/will misrepresent the tech industry I grew up in, work in, and love, I have to say that their portrayal of Silicon Valley isn’t complete bullshit. The show highlights a series of inconvenient truths about the industry. Some of them directly and intentional, others by accident or through pure serendipity.

I say this probably controversial statement from first hand experience. Bravo did film at real, honest to God tech events. They shot footage at a few big events I was at, most notably GDC.  The cast of the show are actively involved in tech – albeit an unfortunate few are product people. Hermione did make waves when she was at NextWeb, and Sarah (who I know personally) is one of the top PR folks in the industry thanks to Pop17.

In fact I might even be on the show for a moment given that I was a judge on one of Pop17′s panels. If you see a scruffy-haired kid wearing Brooks Brothers and ill-fitting jeans in a leather chair talking about legal exposure issues during Sarah’s intro in the first episode, that would be yours truly.

Based off of the show’s trailers it would appear that Bravo has seriously dropped the ball and much of the criticisms leveled against the show are valid. Contrary to popular opinions (and what I frequently told myself in college) you do not program better after successive shots of Hennessy. It’s frankly criminal that none of the cast is Asian as well, given that 35.8% of San Francisco’s population is Asian and that Anglo-Americans are less than 50% of the Bay Area’s population.

And while there are rich entrepreneurs, particularly those who have had a successful prior exit, the overwhelmingly vast majority of young enterpreneurs do not live like Ben and Hermione at their extraordinarily posh Startup Mansion.

But Bravo did get one thing right: high tech’s popular culture highly prizes the work hard, play hard mentality.

Case in point yesterday. This year Halloween and the Giant’s World Series parade fell on a Wednesday. As we’ve learned from Rebecca Black, Wednesday is several days before the actual weekend. Yet as I was walking through SoMA for meetings yesterday I ran into a score of hammered day-drinking engineers from a variety of high-cap public and well-funded private tech companies.

It didn’t stop there. That evening my phone blew up with a variety of drunk texts yelling at me to come out clubbing, and after I rebuffed these requests one of their senders (a senior engineer from a top tech company) noted that, “duuuuude everybody [in the Valley] will be hung over tomorrow anyway — lets just fuckin rage.”

The truth is that tech is an incredibly work hard, play hard culture. A good percentage of Silicon Valley tech, particularly the younger crowd, does party on the weekdays and sport a “hack by day, drink by night” lifestyle. San Francisco’s mega clubs like The Grand and Ruby Skye are oversubscribed with tech guys and gals who shuffle daily, and Google engineers frequently rent out their famed commuter buses for use as boozy shuttles to and from the city.

The probability that a lot of these folks work in tech? Pretty high.

While it’s true that much of tech could give investment banking a run for its money in terms of partying, it’s easy to forget why the industry institutionalizes partying: because it’s a comparatively cost-effective way to get 20 somethings to forget they’re working abysmally long hours for little to nothing immediately.

Your average engineer in an early stage startup works at least 70 hours a week – more if the team is small and you’re pushing towards a hard deadline. In a high-burn environment where you’re pre-revenue and living from funding round to funding round, the stress of having the company’s success rest on your shoulder is immense. Partying is thus a sophomoric but effective method of quick satisfaction that keeps up employee morale – a hedonistic holdover from many of our college years.

The really important takeaway here isn’t that 20-somethings are inclined to party. If you didn’t know that I refer you to any major city at midnight on a Saturday. What Bravo should have been focusing more on was that people at startups work very, very hard if they want to succeed.

You could just as easily get the same takeaway as spending quiet time with your family or kids. Many older entrepreneurs do take this more healthy escape route rather than dancing wildly and shirtless on top of the bar at Mighty.

Starcraft is a very popular tech pastime that Bravo neglected to show off in their trailer.

In fact there is a significant percentage of engineers – arguably the majority – that don’t party. We’re computer geeks after all. Many of us who studied CS got into programming because we love coding, and working on open source projects and hacking is as frequent a pastime for techies as doing kegstands at Monaghan’s.

They’ll also work on the startup as a pastime. Almost every startup is poor by nature, and early employees often will make way more money at a Google or a Facebook than they will at even a Series A-funded tech startup.  Working at a startup has to be a passion and many startup employees will opt to stay in and work because they’re obsessed with pushing product and making a difference.

Photo from SXSW’12. Note that nobody in this picture is coding or building anything.

Then there’s the shmoozing. Yes, shmoozing is a frequent pastime in Silicon Valley. We euphamistically call it networking, and if you look on Meetup.com there are literally hundreds of tech networking events that occur throughout the Bay Area on a daily basis. Whether they’re casual intro meetings or drinking-heavy tech networking events, Startups is going to show off this staple of the Valley as a normal part of every day tech life.

For some people it certainly is. For folks in BD, marketing, and sales there is a lot of value to be had in extending your professional network. VCs and C-levels also will show up at networking events for similar reasons, with both sides looking to possibly court the other into a financing relationship.

But networking events aren’t critical for the vast majority of product-focused tech employees. In fact, they’re the exact opposite. Time spent at an open bar social media mixer is time that otherwise could have been spent coding or doing something productive.

Even as a VC, I only attend mixers that I think would strategically help me in either sourcing good deals or meeting great experts in an area I’m pursuing. Networking is only a subset of the tech experience, and is far from the most critical activity for most startup CEOs.

There’s one inconvenient truth that I wish Bravo focused more on with their show: the role of women in tech.

The world needs a lot more Sheryl Sandbergs

We have a huge problem in this industry with a clear lack of women in executive positions and in technical product positions. Despite substantial progress, women remain a small minority in computer science graduates. This is a problem that’s bigger than just the high tech industry, but given the supposedly progressive nature of high tech we should be able to do a lot better.

I hope Bravo gives at least some time to this issue. Even though talking about serious issues like sexual harassment and gender discrimination is less exciting than watching a bunch of scantily-clad twenty somethings pound a six pack of Stella, Bravo could do a lot of good shedding light on some of the unique problems women in tech have to deal with in their pursuit of success.

Regardless of what I or anyone else says, Bravo’s show is probably going to do very well and get a lot of viewers even within the tech industry. I just hope that at the end of the day the world remembers that Silicon Valley isn’t about getting hammered at a club.

The truth is that Silicon Valley is a machine run by people who work hard and are passionately dedicated to changing the world with technology.

No more, no less.

17 per cent of job vacancies in England are now directly attributable to skills shortages, so why are we not tapping into the female talent pool?

A new report conducted by the UKRC – WISE and sponsored by BAE Systems suggests that that the problems start at school. Girls traditionally opt for English and Art subjects rather than Maths and Physics, thereby closing the doors to many science and technical careers – where the jobs in the future are going to be.

The UKRC – WISE report confirms the reasoning behind girls not progressing with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects is to do with culture rather than ability, because the minority of girls who pursue STEM subjects do as well if not better than boys. Yet the numbers remain persistently low – only 76 more girls were studying physics in 2011 than there were in 2001 (JCQ official statistics 2001/2011).

…

Read the complete article on: http://www.theukrc.org/news/2012/07/press-release-girls-are-missing-out-on-jobs

1. Control your career PR agent

Nora asserts that every statement we make at work is a press release. When someone compliments you for a great presentation, don’t fall into the trap of pointing out things that could have been done better, as to do so sends the press release “I’m not as competent as you thought”. A far better response when given a compliment is just to say thank you. If you still want to do a post-mortem of all your mistakes save it for a friend or family member or that unfortunate person stuck sitting next to you on a flight.

2. Feel comfortable being uncomfortable

If you have taken on a challenging new role it is normal to be uncomfortable and if you hope to have a challenging career you need to get used to it. A learning curve is at play here and you need to give yourself time to adjust. If after 6 months you still feel uncomfortable, reevaluate at that time if you are in the right position. 

3. Learn how to act

No matter how scared you may feel, learn how to act confident to conquer your fears and appear competent to others. Nora once met NASA astronaut Sally Ride. Sally admitted to having being scared walking into the shuttle about to go into space, yet you would never have known this from watching Sally’s confident demeanor at the time.

4. Attitude is everything

Often we are told that a career path is linear, yet the reality is that career paths often resemble obstacle courses. Having a positive attitude is key to overcoming career challenges and soaring in the face of adversity.

5. Kill Miss Congeniality

At times in the workplace women may be selected for certain gender-specific tasks such as baking a birthday cake. Nora asserts that unless you enjoy such a task don’t take it on. If you do it once you’ll be expected to do it again. Miss Congeniality does not get the corner office.

6. Lighten up and separate

How someone behaves at work may not be a true reflection of who they are as a person. At work everyone plays their role, it’s not personal its just business. Learn to laugh things of and lighten up when you feel insulted.

7. Learn how to ask

Many opportunities are not advertised. Ask questions to achieve your goals. Want to go on an international assignment? Say so to your manager. That way if one were to open up your manager may suggest you, if they already know you’re interested. There is not always a sign up sheet to allow for the most qualified, most suited person to be fairly chosen, so be proactive.

8. Aim high

Where do you want to be ten years from now? Tell your manager(s) your big career goals, to foster a productive career discussion. People tend to be better editors than they are creators and can give you some great advice if you give them some ideas to work with.

9. Embrace criticism

Criticism can be hard to take, often resulting in defensive behaviors, as the recipient feels attacked. Feedback is actually very valuable and necessary in order to grow and develop. To get this feedback you need to view criticism as an area of opportunity. Thank the person giving it so they feel comfortable, then ask clarifying questions to encourage them to fully expand on their thoughts. To solicit feedback when it is not offered consider asking your manager a question such as “how does my performance differ from what is expected at the next level?”

10. Remember what you’re judged on

Results are ultimately what matters most, so always keep the end in mind.

To learn more about Nora Denzel I would actively recommend you visit her website.