I was particularly pleased to chat to two women who are leading the charge for female technology innovators everywhere: Cary Marsh, who founded MyDeo, and Kate Burns, the outgoing Senior Vice-President of AOL Europe and former head of Google UK. Both are smart, impressive women who have trail-blazed their way to the very top of the tech industry and should serve as inspiration to all aspiring Lady Geeks out there.
Yet while their progress is heartening, it only puts into perspective the uphill struggle women face in an industry where only 18% of employees are female (e-skills uk). The passing of Steve Jobs last month made me wonder how long it will be before a woman reaches the same exulted status. Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg, Page and Brin, Bezos: all the technology giants of recent years are men.
Of course questions need to be asked as to what the industry needs to address the imbalance, and first instinct is to assume that, like many things, it's merely too used to being one big boys club. But I believe the problem goes deeper than that.
These days just as many women as men count themselves as tech users (see my previous blogs) and teenage girls and teenage boys have almost identical internet usage statistics. Yet when it comes to careers, boys are five times more likely to go into technology (ComputerWorld). Why is this? At what point are we losing our girl geeks to other industries?
The problem is largely one of perception. Girls tend to want careers that lean towards what they deem as 'creative' -- advertising, PR and publishing all remain popular choices. Why should they take an interest in tech when all that's on offer for a teenager is a choice between an Information Technology class (spreadsheets, databases, powerpoints, zzzzzsorry what were you saying?) -- and a games console at home (made by boys, played by boys)? It's seen as nerdy, dull and -- dare I say it -- male.
Frustratingly those of us in the tech world know that it can be one of the most creative places a person can work. Instead of boring them to death we should be introducing our young women to exciting cutting edge skills like coding, software development and games design at an early age and showing them that a career in technology is more about creating and building than it is about number crunching. Only then will we start to see a much needed influx of bright young women in the industry.
Until there is a real overhaul of the relationship between tech and women from childhood on up, then the Carys and Kates of this world will remain an endangered species. There is a huge opportunity to make sure our daughters and young girls are creators and leaders of technology as well as consumers.
It's a great time to be a woman.
Belinda Parmar is the founder of Lady Geek TV. Please join the Lady Geek campaign to end the stereotypes and cliches towards women in tech and Like us on Facebook (image in post by Joana Pereira).
Follow Belinda Parmar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/belindaparmar
Tim Berry: Design It Pink? Isn't That Insulting?
Judith Lewis: Why 2012 is Going to be a Great Year for Girl Geeks
Rev. Jim Ball: The Faithfulness of Steve Jobs
"spreadsheets, databases, powerpoints, zzzzzsorry what were you saying?"
You just answered your own question.
Therefore.
Why would anyone want to go into tech?
- the hours are terrible
- the pay is actually not all that great.
- you will probably be fired on a regular basis.
- You will probably not actually be "hired" but be a 1099 sub-contractor.
- there is gross discrimination against anyone over 25.
- there is gross discrimination against women (yes it is pervasive!)
Overall the situation in the US tech industry is really crummy with most of the jobs being exported to cheap labor elsewhere in the world.
There is no shortage of tech workers in the US, just a shortage of low cost disposable tech workers.
Girls usually enjoy learning how to fix things around the house just as much as boys do, but they approach it differently. Girls tend to be concerned about doing the wrong thing, breaking an object, while boys just wade in and are confident they'll figure it out eventually. Both are right. While boys usually have to be restrained ("if I catch you taking that thing apart one more time I'm taking it away), girls must be encouraged. Give a girl a set of simple tools---screwdrivers, wrenches, etc---for Christmas, and show her how to change, say, the air filter on the lawn mower.
The other thing is pretty simple, really. Girls need their own jealously guarded space and time to fiddle with technology. If computer time must be shared with other family members, the boys & men tend to hog it. Think of ... who in a family usually commandeers the TV remote. For families who can afford it, it might be as simple as having separate computers.
"Girls are like this" (insert gross generalization about a culturally and individually diverse 51% of people born)
"Boys are like this" (insert gross generalization about a culturally and individually diverse 49% of people born)
Why no campaigns targeting women for those fields?
Every thing that can be said about women in tech can be said about men in nursing...so why aren't they?
And yes, we did invent computer programming. From Ada Lovelace to Grace Hopper, to Barbara Liskovv ... heck to Roberta Williams ... Women have defined the modern programming industry. We made it what it is today.
The lack of women in programming is not a problem for women, it is a problem for programming. You guys NEED US BADLY. We are a tiny fraction of programmers but a vast majority of the significant contributors to the state of the art. Including the three most important advancements in the field which were pioneered by the first three women listed.
Not saying you can't be a guy and a good programmer. If you have skills society has arbitrarily categorized as "female" you can do quite well. Like listening to your end users to accurately gather their requirements and making what *they want* instead of what you think would be cool to say you made ( and yes, I'm dealing with a drama-king right now so I'm a little ticked. We have a budget, we have clear requirements, we don't have time to indulge him. ).
But, not yours, of course...
(And don't tell me these personal-time-sacrificers are all men who live alone without homes, babies and old people)
Companies who push workers, or allow workers to push themselves past reasonable limits, know that SOMEONE must take care of the home front for these workers. In this way, they are complicit in workplace discrimination against women.