Come to think of it, they’ve been all men. Unshaven men
wearing “Alcatraz” t-shirts and smelling of taco trucks and Mountain Dew and
playing Rock Band or World of Warcraft or Words with Friends.
Okay, that’s a unfair exaggeration, and my apologies to my
tech brethren, but it is true that every single technology company I’ve talked
shop with of late has had all men creating system architecture, managing IT
infrastructure, setting up databases, working out UI, crunching code, fixing
bugs and dressing up the software.
All men, with the exception of one recent interaction where
there was one woman in a development team of six. Interestingly enough, I’ve
seen more female founders and CEO’s in Silicon Valley than actual practicing technology
professionals, so that may make more of a difference at some point.
In fact, most of my career in tech marketing, HR and
recruiting has included more female counterparts than men. Although certainly
not equal, there were more women in the workforce the last two years outpacing
men – and of the 15 job categories projected to grow the most in the next
decade in the U.S., all but two are occupied primarily by women.
However, in a
recent
article about IT professionals, “while hard numbers related to the number
of women who work in high-tech as technical support or managers in the private
and public sectors in the U.S. today are hard to come by, some studies estimate
women constitute 15% to 25% of the ranks at most, and about 8% of managers…To
be sure, women in the U.S. aren't coming out of undergraduate and graduate
programs in computers sciences in huge numbers. As of 2009, only 18% of
graduates in computer science were women, according to the report.”
Time to evolve, gentlemen
. My two
little girls, both of whom take smart device usability to uncanny levels, may
want to be in tech someday and I’m going to be right there urging them on
through school and into their careers (and I will battle you, my tech brethren).
According to a recent study by the
Anita Borg
Institute, an organization dedicated to increasing the role of women in
technology, there needs to be a culture shift inside companies today. They need
to recruit from bigger candidate pools and advertise positions more neutrally,
removing stereotypes and culture references that tell “diverse” candidates to
stay away. When hiring, make sure that at least one woman is in the running for
every tech job as well as being a part of the recruiting and hiring management
teams.
We’re not talking rocket science here. In fact, it can all easily
start online today with talent networks, circles, pools, communities,
playgrounds even – whatever you want to call them. You can attract like-minded
people, male and female alike, interested in specific yet gender-neutral
careers, skills, hobbies, technologies, your brand – you name it. Let them
communicate with one another, challenge one another without malice, commiserate
and collaborate about career commonalities, whether they apply for a job with
you today, tomorrow or a year from now (or never).
Of course you’ll promote your brand – you should never stop promoting
your brand – but with women dominating today’s colleges and professional
schools (for
every two men who will receive a B.A. this year, three women will do the same),
I recommend you learn how to play nice with girls in tech playgrounds.
