If it's true that you can't be what you can't see, then Google took a key step toward showing women that they can succeed in tech at the company's I/O developer conference this year. While, as the New York Times notes, women are underrepresented across the tech industry, including at Google, the conference lineup featured a session titled "7 Techmakers and a Microphone" featuring many of Google's top women, including Anna Patterson a VP of engineering and artificial intelligence, Johanna Wright, VP of search and assist at Android, Diane Greene, a Google board member and Megan Smith, a VP at Google X.
One of our favorite pieces of advice came from Susan Wojcicki, a Google senior vice president who was the company's 16th employee.
“Do something important, think big, have a big goal about how you can change the world,” Wojcicki, who is ranked #30 on the Forbes Power Women list, advised.
At the conference, Google founder Larry Page said that recruiting women is one of the company's priorities: “We’ve been super focused on that forever.”
Women hold less than 25 percent of American jobs in STEM, according to the Department of Commerce. Attempts to get more young girls involved in STEM fields include the controversial EU Commission video "Science: It's A Girl Thing!" which tries to equate lab equipment with "fun" and "girly" things like lipstick and high heels.
Click over to the Times to see what else the women of Google had to say, and let's hope their drive to get more women into STEM fields is a success.
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