Women and Technology Reality, Perceived Reality and Changing Reality

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Women and TechnologyReality, Perceived Reality
and Changing Reality

• Cindy Goral
• March 22, 2006
• Presented at TechLeaders Realizing Your Vision
• Google

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Reality or not?

• The percentage of women in technology has
  increased in the last 20 years
• There are no jobs in IT/computer science
• There arent as many women at the top in
  technology as non-technology fields
• The barriers to advancement are different for men
  and women
• Theres nothing we can do about it

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Percentage of Jobs Held by Women
Number In percent
Source Commission on Professional in Science and
TechnologySource AMA's "Physician
Characteristics and Distribution in US." and
Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts
Online
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Women in Computing Declining

Source US Dept of Education
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Share of Bachelors Degrees in Each Field Earned
by Women, 2000
Source US Dept of Commerce
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Illustrating the numbers in computer science

• Green dot
• women who earn bachelors degrees in Comp Sci.
  28
• Green and Blue dots
• women who go on to get PhD. 16.5 of comp sci
  and engineering PhDs in US
• Red dot
• women who hold professional positions in IT
  industry, 29 of professional and technical IT
  occupations
• Red and Yellow dots
• female corporate officers within high-tech
  industry. 11

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Reality or not?

• The percentage of women in technology has
  increased in the last 20 years
• TRUE, except for Computer Science, where it has
  declined numbers still far less than 50 in
  some areas

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Jobs in IT

• ACM report The Globalization and Offshoring of
  Software March 2006
• CRA Conference Feb. 2004, John Sargent of US Dept
  of Commerce predicts strong job growth in IT
  industry

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Recent Occupational GrowthGrowth Rates
Source US Dept of Commerce
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IT, Science and Engineering Occupational
Projections, 2002-2012Employment, Numbers
Source US Dept of Commerce
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IT, Science and Engineering Occupational
Projections, 2002-2012Employment Growth Rate
Source US Dept of Commerce
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Reality or not?

• There are no jobs in IT/computer science
• FALSE, even with globalization the number of
  jobs in the next 10 years continues to increase

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Women in Corporate America
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Women in High Tech Leadership
Women on Boards of Directors
Women Corporate Officers
Source Catalyst, 2003 Catalyst Census of Women
Board of Directors Catalyst, 2002
Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and
Top Earners
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Reality or not?

• There arent as many women at the top in
  technology as non-technology fields
• TRUE, but the numbers arent great in
  non-technology fields either

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Barriers to AdvancementMens Top Barriers
Lack of Line Experience
Displaying Style Different from Organizational
Norm
Lack of Awareness of Organizational Politics
Statistically significant
Statistically significant
Source Catalyst, Women and Men in U.S. Corporate
Leadership Same Workplace, Different Realities?,
2004
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Barriers to AdvancementWomens Top Barriers
Exclusion from Informal Networks
Gender-Based Stereotypes
Lack of Role Models
Inhospitable Corporate Culture
Statistically significant
Source Catalyst, Women and Men in U.S. Corporate
Leadership Same Workplace, Different Realities?,
2004
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Summary of Barriers toWomen in High Tech

• An exclusionary culture that does not support
  womens advancement. (31 of barriers identified)
• Companies dont strategically and objectively
  identify and develop talent. (23 of barriers
  identified)
• Women feel isolated because they lack mentors,
  networks, and role models. (22 of barriers
  identified)
• The demands of work and careers are at odds with
  having a commitment to family and personal
  responsibilities. (16 of barriers identified)

Source Catalyst, Bit by Bit Catalysts Guide
to Advancing Women in High Tech, 2003
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Womens advancement in IT

• Cultural and gender stereotypes negatively affect
  perception and assessment of womens performance
• People like me People are promoted with similar
  characteristics to those in positions of
  authority
• Stereotypes frame the assumptions and metrics
• Boorish behavior is tolerated
• Style trumps substance Women in IT expect work
  to be acknowledged and reviewed without self
  promotion
• Work/life balance is generational not gender
  issue
• Decisions on a womens behalf without her
  participation, based on her personal or family
  situation
• Women benefit from encouraging culture, which is
  set by CEO

Where are the Women in Information Technology?
Pre-study by ABI NCWIT
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Reality or not?

• The barriers to advancement for men and women are
  different
• TRUE, while some of the barriers are the same,
  women face additional barriers

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Case studies Changing Reality

• HP Diversity
• IBM Diversity and awards
• Microsoft Programs and Benefits
• Suns SEED program
• Google Anita Borg Scholarships

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Hewlett-Packard Company

• Late 70s and 80s
• Women and minority focus groups held to involve
  employees
• First Technical Women's Conference held 400
  women attend
• 90s
• Recipient of Catalyst Award
• Leadership, Education and Development Program
  (LEAD) established
• Technical and professional womens conferences
  held, serving gt 5000 women
• Work/life initiative established

 
Top Ten Best Companies for Working Mothers -
Working Mother magazine (1986, 1996, and 2004)
6 Corporate Award for Diversity Women --
Diversity Best Practices and Business Women's
Network, 2004
2 Top U.S. Company for Female Executives -
National Association for Female Executives
(NAFE), 2005

• Recruit women from Grace Hopper, WITI, SWE, and
  other events
• Leadership and mentoring programs for women
• Resource groups
• Flexible work includes flex time, part time, job
  share, tele-work, and flex-work

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IBM
Diversity is a Competitive Advantage. Workforce
diversity is the bridge between the workplace and
the marketplace, and as such, victory with the
customer begins with winning in the workplace.
 
2000 Catalyst Award for exemplary initiatives to
advance women through the corporate ranks (Note
IBM is the only three-time award winner 1989,
1993, 2000)
2004 Working Mother magazine recognizes IBM as
one of the 100 Best Companies for working mothers
for the 19th year in a row, and honors IBM as one
of the top 10 companies for the 17th year in a
row.
2005 The National Association for Female
Executives places IBM number six among the top 30
companies for the number of women in senior ranks
and the programs and policies which support
women's advancement -- the 7th consecutive year
IBM has placed on the list.
2005 Women Engineer Magazine named IBM top
company for women engineers
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Microsoft

• One of 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers -
  Working Mothers Magazine 2004
• Leadership and Opportunity
• Mentoring Program
• Womens employee resource organization
  (Women_at_Microsoft)
• Annual Womens Conference
• gt3600 participants in 2006
• 81 speakers, 73 hours of content
• Professional and personal development,
  inspiration, and networking
• Rated 8.5/10 by attendees
• Womens Conference in Box for those unable to
  attend
• One outcome Senior women continue to work on
  opportunities for other women to advance
• Next generation of leaders
• DigiGirlz High Tech Camp
• Northwest Girls Collaborative Project
• Boy and Girls Clubs of America
• Partnerships with ATW, ABI, NCWIT, Catalyst,
  ACM-W, SWE, MentorNet, WITI, and WBENC

How does Microsoft support the careers of the
women it hires? "I'm floored by the investment
Microsoft makes in the yearly women's conference.
It's a multi-day conference with workshops open
to women from around the global organization.
Looking at the expense in terms of time, not just
money, it is very empowering. It's great to
realize that I'm part of a sea of women making a
difference at Microsoft. Patricia, General
Manager
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Sun

• SUNW
• Suns Leslie Lambert receives CIO Magazines One
  to Watch Award 2005
• SEED
• Over 460 participants 260 mentors world-wide
• 2 groups college hires, established staff
• Priorities
• Value, satisfaction, and retention
• Build Suns engineering community
• Work to balance diversity of participants
  (geographic, demographic, professional)
• 24 women SEED participants
• Satisfaction by participants over 90
• SEED is case study in Use Mentoring and Networks
  to Win in Catalysts Bit by Bit Guide to
  Advancing Women in High Tech Companies, 2003

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Google
As part of Google's ongoing commitment to
furthering Anita's vision, we are pleased to
announce the 2006 Google Anita Borg Scholarship,
through which we hope to encourage women to excel
in computing and technology and become active
role models and leaders. The scholarship
recipients, selected from the finalists, will
each receive a 10,000 scholarship for the
2006-2007 academic year.
How has being a scholarship recipient impacted
you?The biggest impact has been in my level of
confidence. I have always struggled, like many
women in science fields, with doubts about my
abilities, but receiving an award like this has
helped me realize that I can and will succeed in
this field. Being the recipient of this award has
been life-changing for me. I never thought I had
a chance of receiving it, but I guess I'm
evidence that people often exceed their own
expectations. - Moriah McClanahan, Bachelors
Candidate in Computer Science, BYU
What are you currently working on?A summer
internship at Google! I've been in academia for
four years now, and it is good to be able to
reflect on a non-academic life before actually
making decisions about my future in the next
year. If I could say something to the women out
there wondering whether they should apply for the
scholarship, I'd say APPLY! Not just because of
the possibility of funding, but more because of
the network that is forming from this
scholarship. Actually receiving the scholarship
ends up being icing on the cake, but applying all
of a sudden makes you part of something much
bigger. - Barbara Engelhardt, Ph.D. Candidate in
EE/Comp Sci at UC Berkeley
 
Why did you apply for the Google Anita Borg
Scholarship? I have always looked for ways to
finance my education so when my advisor
recommended I apply for the Anita Borg
Scholarship, I did. I want to encourage those
women who are unsure of whether they should apply
to do it. I say this because when I first read
all about the scholarship, I thought, "Hmm, I
dunno, it seems like a long shot" but in the end
it worked out wonderfully. It has given me the
opportunity to meet other women who, like myself,
are interested in technology and are pursuing
careers in computer science. - Maria Gabriela
Aguilera, Masters candidate in Computer Sci at
Univ. Texas El Paso
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Reality or not?

• Theres nothing we can do about it
• FALSE!! We are doing things about it! And each
  and every one of you can and is making a
  difference