Women Work In Technology

[Ginger Koolick]

I spoke about the state of women in technology today. Please discuss.

[Heather Ross]

Ginger, I'm sorry that I missed your session (off podcasting), but I'm wondering if there is some active role we might be able to take to help encourage more young women in this area.

[Ginger Koolick]

Thanks Heather, here are some things we can do:

- Celebrate women already in technology, emphasizing that their lives and careers are exciting and cool, this will increase visibility. People want to do things that people like them are doing. When it looks like there aren't women in the field, it doesn't encourage more women to enter it.

- Mentor younger or less experienced women. We all need support and advice. A common reason women gave for leaving technology was that there weren't enough other women in the field. This is a self-perpetuating issue. Join and participate in groups like SW4, for example.

- The education system has a role to play. More emphasis needs to be put on the importance of math and science and more encouragement needs to be given to girls from a young age to build confidence in these areas.

Here are just a few resources for more info:
http://www.oreillynet.com/womenintech/

http://www.infoage.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1994765228;fp;4;fpid;147...

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/29/05FEwomentechteen_1.html

http://anitaborg.org/

http://cse.stanford.edu/classes/cs201/Projects/women-faculty/defini...