Women In Tech: A Dying Breed?

As I have stated previously - my experience in the technology field by proxy of my career in online marketing has taught me the most about the existing gender gap. The technology field serves as a unique microcosm of the women's rights movement and today the New York Times decided to take a stab at the subject of women in technology with their piece What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science?

The article is helpful in the fact that it helps raise the conscious level about one of the last fields where women have yet to find parity with men. In this situation, it seems that the lack of females is not due to a lack of women studying technology - but a larger and more difficult reason to pin down - the fact that machismo tech culture is not welcoming to women - which is what discourages women from studying the field in the first place:

"When one looks at computer science in particular, however, the proportion of women has been falling. In 2001-2, only 28 percent of all undergraduate degrees in computer science went to women. By 2004-5, the number had declined to only 22 percent. Data collected by the Computing Research Association showed even fewer women at research universities like M.I.T.: women accounted for only 12 percent of undergraduate degrees in computer science and engineering in the United States and Canada granted in 2006-7 by Ph.D.-granting institutions, down from 19 percent in 2001-2. Many computer science departments report that women now make up less than 10 percent of the newest undergraduates."

Lately there has been a strategic effort by women in tech to try and get more female panelists at tech conferences, confront misogynistic attitudes and thwart the perpetuation of the boys club in technology. Some great pieces came out last week on these subjects: Huffington Post Mutes Women's Voices, Cracking the Boys Club, and Most Influential Women in Web 2.0. I encourage everyone to take a read and be enlightened as well as inspired about the current failings and successes when it comes to women in the tech field.

However, even though women are pushing the envelope and trying to create a conversation on the subject, there is still a lot of work to do. Take a look at this survey written by Sylvia Ann Hewlett about the female-to-male ratios in the technology field, titled Women and Technology: The Ugly Truth:

"Women, it turns out, are excelling in science, engineering, and technology (SET). In 2007, girls won both the Siemens and Intel science competitions and walked off with 53% of graduate degrees in the biological sciences. Despite the bias and barriers that continue to exist in our culture, a surprisingly large number of young women embark on careers in science.... This rosy picture is spoiled by one calamitous fact. A little ways down the road, more than half of these women drop out-pushed and shoved by macho work environments, serious isolation, and extreme job pressures."

Hewlett expands on her thesis in The Harvard Business Review, which reports that "Athena Factor survey data show that 41% of highly qualified scientists, engineers, and technologists on the lower rungs of corporate career ladders are female."

Yikes. According to Hewlett, in addition to fewer women entering the field, the women who are in the field don't feel welcome and also don't see a clear path for success? No wonder women in tech are becoming a dying breed.

In order to save women in tech from extinction, make sure to team up with other like minded ladies and join organizations where you can find success and support in the field such as these organizations:

• National Girls Collaborative Project
• DigiGirlz High Technology Camps
• Girls In Tech
• Women Who Tech