Building Gender Equality From the Inside Out and the Outside In

As part of a Forbes ongoing series about women leaders in technology, Amy Blankson shares insights from Jayne Groll, CEO of the DevOps Institute and tech expert, as she discusses moving beyond stereotypes and assumptions if we want to attract more girls and women to technology. Instead of seeing women as less capable in tech fields and in need of special accommodations, we need to work on giving women a voice and many seats at the table; eliminating gender bias in the workplace; and truly making the field inviting, safe, and navigable for women. It's an approach that will help women, men, and workplaces in general, as more opportunities for women mean a better balance for everyone—and the opportunity to make the most of women's talents and ideas.

By Amy Blankson

This is the sixth article in the "Women Execs in Tech Series," an ongoing conversation about current challenges in the industry and best practices for increasing gender parity in the workplace.

Jayne Groll is co-founder and CEO of the DevOps Institute and has accumulated a wealth of IT credentials throughout her career. Her 25 years in senior IT management have positioned her as a sounding board for individuals hoping to delve deeper into the many issues in tech. Recently, she was asked how to recruit more girls for a robotics team. A male participant in the conversation suggested they should “make the robots pink or something?”

Despite over two decades in the tech sector, Jayne is still dumbfounded by these types of suggestion. In her mind, it’s not about making the tech industry more appealing to women by “pinkifying it,” but rather it's about making the sector a fair and safe place for women.

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6 ways to include more women of color in tech - TechRepublic

techrepublic.com - Tech company efforts to diversify by hiring more women are falling short in a key way: Leaving out women of color. "You see this in most large-scale initiatives built to create equality," said Aubrey Blanche, global head of diversity and inclusion at software company Atlassian. "When you focus on the larger group we call women, which is itself very diverse, you end up in a program that serves the needs of the majority in that group, which are white women."

Affirmative action programs have primarily benefited white women, a number of studies have shown. "We see that replicated in the tech industry, which is problematic, because we end up leaving women who don't fall into that camp behind," Blanche said. "You don't get as much diversity as you'd like."

Research shows that diverse teams are more innovative and creative, and that employees are happier. "As America becomes more diverse and globalized, it is smart to understand how to support greater diversity of your own workforce and of customers," Blanche said. "It's smart from a business perspective, and it has social impact."

Tech's Gender Wage Gap Is Real, Partly Because Men Don't Believe It Is.

You can only fix a problem once you acknowledge it. Unfortunately in the case of the gender gap in tech, that's still an issue. While a majority of women recognize the inequality in the tech industry, a majority of men think equal opportunity already exists.

Melissa Loble, VP of platform and partnerships at Instructure, talks about the gap -- both in the industry and in perceptions -- and discusses how we might combat it, as well as some encouraging news for the future.

entrepreneur.com - Much has been said and written about the gender gap in tech, including the disparity in pay between men and women. We’ve all seen the statistics. According to salary data from Glassdoor and the U.S. Census Bureau, women in tech fields earn roughly 75–80 percent of that earned by their male counterparts in tech positions. The biggest disparities occur among coders (more on that later). This isn't just a moral problem. It's an issue of missed opportunity for the tech economy. It's time we get beyond acknowledging the problem and get started on figuring out why it exists so we can fix it.

The first step in fixing the wage gap is acknowledging the perception gap. According to a study by Bridge, the corporate training arm of my company, men don’t see the equal pay problem as much as women do. In fact, the majority of men think women have equal opportunity, but less than half of women agree. This finding seems to support the opinion of Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor. "My view is that in heavily male dominated fields, the people who are making the decisions about pay and promotion are disproportionately men, and that can play a role in why we're seeing gaps in male and female pay," Chamberlain told the L.A. Times.

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Tech: An Opportunity For Black Women and Investors

Forbes Woman highlights a recent report showing how tech provides great opportunities for black women to found or invest in tech startups—even if they're not techies. Get the details at the full article. Black women are underrepresented in tech, but they're the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States, so their successes—and further opportunities for black women in tech entrepreneurship—are trends worth following for founders and investors. Read the full article at the link.  Forbes - Technology represents a huge opportunity for black women. You don’t need to be a techie to spot an opportunity in the market. You also don’t need to be a techie to start a technology company. You can find a techie cofounder by getting referrals, attending tech events or using a service, such as CoFoundersLab. You can also hire or outsource the development of your technology. Some developers will even defer payment until you are making money.

Black women represent a mere 4 percent of all women-led tech startups in the U.S., according to #ProjectDiane. Black women represent 18 percent of all women in the U.S., according to BlackDemographics.com. I’ve highlighted three women mentioned in the report.

• Angie of The Shade Room provides celebrity news and juicy gossip 24/7. She  has been at the forefront of developing a model to monetize her huge following on Instagram. As a result, she has been named one of 18 of TechCrunch’s females founders who killed it in 2015.
• Kellee James of Mercaris started a market data and auctions site to help companies that sell organic and non-GMO agricultural products in the U.S.. She was a White House Fellow and worked at an electronic trading platform for spot, futures and options on carbon, sulfur, clean energy and other environmental derivatives.
• Nicole Sanchez founded eCreditHero, a five-minute credit fix app. She has a Harvard undergraduate and MBA degree.

Read the rest here.

Women In Tech: Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Sava360 brought our attention to a powerful series highlighting leading women in technology by Shelly Kapoor Collins of ShellShockd, a community of women in tech who support one another and work together to form opportunities, foster innovation and work toward equality because they believe that “technology is the greatest equalizer of the 21st century, and without women in tech, there is no equality.” sava360.com - Original article by Shelly Kapoor Collins found here.

From startup to global enterprise, talking with the GLAMSQUAD and GILT co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Through my Women in Tech series, I have interviewed awe inspiring female tech founders who through their collective success and willingness to be door openers for other women, are doing their part to plug the leaky bucket and build the Tech pipeline.

One such female Tech entrepreneur who I had the huge honor of interviewing is Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Co-Founder of the luxury flash sale site, The GILT Groupe (Gilt) and now CEO and Co-Founder of Glamsquad, an on demand beauty app. Whether or not Alexandra realizes it, she is becoming somewhat of a legend in the world of Technology startup founders. I was excited to gain insight into her secret sauce for success and pass along her insight to other women in Tech for whom Alexandra is a role model.

Visit Sava360 to read more about Wilson and to listen to Collins' radio interview with Wilson. Read more about ShellSchockd and women in tech here, or check out their website and full series here.

Showcasing Women in Tech

Sava360 brought our attention to a powerful series highlighting leading women in technology by Shelly Kapoor Collins of ShellShockd, a community of women in tech who support one another and work together to form opportunities, foster innovation and work toward equality because they believe that “technology is the greatest equalizer of the 21st century, and without women in tech, there is no equality.”  

sava360.com - This original article by Shelly Kapoor Collins can be found on ShellShockd.

In writing this series, I want to bring to life and highlight the positive experiences of women in technology and venture capital who have made it despite their struggles and are even thriving side-by-side with male counterparts who are supportive of their success. Through this series, I aspire to build a community of support so that we as women have our own good ol’boys network and access to resources that will guide and support us before we make the decision to leave the Tech industry. I want to mobilize new members into the world of girl geekdom because technology is the greatest equalizer of the 21st century and without Women in Technology, there is no such equality.

The number of women in the technology industry is marginal and declining. From the ongoing talk about gender pay inequality, women struggling to find balance between work and career, lack of startup capital, and lack of a level playing field with male counterparts, it well known that America has a Women in Tech problem. While it’s important to recognize the issue, over analysis and getting caught up in negativity is a slippery slope that does not result in a solution. In this case, we know we have a (lack) of women in tech but what are we doing about it? Is this a policy issue? A jobs issue? An education issue? A family issue? The answer: it’s all of it.

Read more about ShellSchockd and women in tech here, or check out their website and full series here.

Sava360 is a network that connects leading South Asian influencers with innovators and entrepreneurs for strategic business, education and mentoring opportunities. The connections made through Sava360 take advantage of the expertise South Asian professionals have to offer in business, science, technology, arts and more. The organization advises early to mid-stage companies and hosts workshops and startup competitions; as well as working through its philanthropic branch to combat and raise awareness about issues including gender equality. For more information, visit the Sava360 website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.