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But a wide gender gap persists on the site: Only 17.49 percent of biographies on Wikipedia are of women, and the site's top article categories relate to the military, war, and sports. To counter that pattern, the program provides training to faculty members and students on how to conduct the editing process of Wikipedia. The women's-studies group has assembled the largest cohort of students editing Wikipedia articles through the foundation, which also teams up with other academic associations. Read full article here...
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IN THE NEWS -
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2015
Computing Research Association Releases 2014 Taulbee Survey
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You probably don’t know the name Grace Hopper, but you should.
As a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, Hopper worked on the first computer, the Harvard Mark 1. And she headed the team that created the first compiler, which led to the creation of COBOL, a programming language that by the year 2000 accounted for 70 percent of all actively used code. Passing away in 1992, she left behind an inimitable legacy as a brilliant programmer and pioneering woman in male-dominated fields.
Hopper’s story is told in “The Queen of Code,” directed by Gillian Jacobs (of “Community” fame). It’s the latest film in FiveThirtyEight’s “Signals” series. See full article with VIDEO...
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When Talking About Bias Backfires
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Lawmakers Launch Tech Diversity Caucus
Source: The New York Times - December 6, 2014
A FATHER and his son are in a car accident. The father is killed and the son is seriously injured. The son is taken to the hospital where the surgeon says, “I cannot operate, because this boy is my son.”
This popular brain teaser dates back many years, but it remains relevant today; 40 to75 percent of people still can’t figure it out. Those who do solve it usually take a few minutes to fathom that the boy’s mother could be a surgeon. Even when we have the best of intentions, when we hear “surgeon” or “boss,” the image that pops into our minds is often male.
Our culture’s strong gender stereotypes extend beyond image to performance, leading us to believe that men are more competent than women. Managers — both male and female — continue to favor men over equally qualified women in hiring, compensation, performance evaluation and promotion decisions. This limits opportunities for women and deprives organizations of valuable talent.
To solve this problem, business leaders, academics and journalists are working to raise awareness about bias. The assumption is that when people realize that biases are widespread, they will be more likely to overcome them. But new research suggests that if we’re not careful, making people aware of bias can backfire, leading them to discriminate more rather than less. Read full article...
Lawmakers Launch Tech Diversity Caucus
Source: The Hill - January 26, 2015
Members of both chambers of Congress on Monday launched a bipartisan caucus aimed at getting more women, minorities and veterans into the tech sector.
The eight leaders of the new Diversifying Technology Caucus said that the effort will work with the startup advocacy group Engine to push for greater inclusiveness and diversity in the industry, which has been criticized for being overly male, white and Asian-American.
“If our country’s tech industry is going to stay at the cutting-edge, we have to enlist the creativity and ingenuity of all Americans,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), one of the caucus leaders, said in a statement.
Hill - January 26, 2015
Members of both chambers of Congress on Monday launched a bipartisan caucus aimed at getting more women, minorities and veterans into the tech sector.
The eight leaders of the new Diversifying Technology Caucus said that the effort will work with the startup advocacy group Engine to push for greater inclusiveness and diversity in the industry, which has been criticized for being overly male, white and Asian-American.
“If our country’s tech industry is going to stay at the cutting-edge, we have to enlist the creativity and ingenuity of all Americans,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), one of the caucus leaders, said in a statement.
The new caucus “will bring together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, along with researchers and academics, to shape policy that will help increase diversity in the industry and move our economy forward,” she added. Read full article...
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Speaking While Female
Source: The New York Times - January 12, 2015
The long-term solution to the double bind of speaking while female is to increase the number of women in leadership roles. (As we noted in our previous article, research shows that when it comes to leadership skills, although men are more confident, women are more competent.) As more women enter the upper echelons of organizations, people become more accustomed to women’s contributing and leading. Professor Burris and his colleagues studied a credit union where women made up 74 percent of supervisors and 84 percent of front-line employees. Sure enough, when women spoke up there, they were more likely to be heard than men. When President Obama held his last news conference of 2014, he called on eight reporters — all women. It made headlines worldwide. Had a politician given only men a chance to ask questions, it would not have been news; it would have been a regular day.
As 2015 starts, we wonder what would happen if we all held Obama-style meetings, offering women the floor whenever possible. Doing this for even a day or two might be a powerful bias interrupter, demonstrating to our teams and colleagues that speaking while female is still quite difficult. We’re going to try it to see what we learn. We hope you will, too — and then share your experiences with us all on Facebook or in the comments sectionThe new caucus “will bring together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, along with researchers and academics, to shape policy that will help increase diversity in the industry and move our economy forward,” she added. Read full article...
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Women CIOs Face Greater Challenges
Source: The New York Times CIO Magazine - January 125, 2015
The long-term solution to the double bind of speaking while female is to increase the number of women in leadership roles. (As we noted in our previous article, research shows that when it comes to leadership skills, although men are more confident, women are more competent.) As more women enter the upper echelons of organizations, people become more accustomed to women’s contributing and leading. Professor Burris and his colleagues studied a credit union where women made up 74 percent of supervisors and 84 percent of front-line employees. Sure enough, when women spoke up there, they were more likely to be heard than men. When President Obama held his last news conference of 2014, he called on eight reporters — all women. It made headlines worldwide. Had a politician given only men a chance to ask questions, it would not have been news; it would have been a regular day.
As 2015 starts, we wonder what would happen if we all held Obama-style meetings, offering women the floor whenever possible. Doing this for even a day or two might be a powerful bias interrupter, demonstrating to our teams and colleagues that speaking while female is still quite difficult. We’re going to try it to see what we learn. We hope you will, too — and then share your experiences with us all on Facebook or in the comments section. Read full article...
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Women CIOs Face Greater Challenges
Source: CIO Magazine - January 5, 2015
Female representation -- or lack of it -- among the ranks of CIOs is a microcosm of the rest of the IT industry. Our 2015 State of the CIO survey highlights the gender disparity.
The IT industry as a whole continues to struggle with gender diversity. While women make up 57 percent of the overall workforce, in the technology sector that number falls to just 25 percent. The disparity is even more evident at the IT executive level, where women represent only 20 percent of CIOs at Fortune 250 companies.
2015
Female representation -- or lack of it -- among the ranks of CIOs is a microcosm of the rest of the IT industry. Our 2015 State of the CIO survey highlights the gender disparity.
The IT industry as a whole continues to struggle with gender diversity. While women make up 57 percent of the overall workforce, in the technology sector that number falls to just 25 percent. The disparity is even more evident at the IT executive level, where women represent only 20 percent of CIOs at Fortune 250 companies.
Survey results from the 2014 State of the CIO survey reflect that disappointing reality: Among the 558 total respondents, only 60 were female (or 10.7 percent). While that number is cause for concern, it's not surprising, says Melissa Woo, CIO at University of Oregon. Read full article...
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IN THE NEWS - 2014
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When Talking About Bias Backfires
Source: The New York Times - December 6, 2014
A FATHER and his son are in a car accident. The father is killed and the son is seriously injured. The son is taken to the hospital where the surgeon says, “I cannot operate, because this boy is my son.”
This popular brain teaser dates back many years, but it remains relevant today; 40 to75 percent of people still can’t figure it out. Those who do solve it usually take a few minutes to fathom that the boy’s mother could be a surgeon. Even when we have the best of intentions, when we hear “surgeon” or “boss,” the image that pops into our minds is often male.
Our culture’s strong gender stereotypes extend beyond image to performance, leading us to believe that men are more competent than women. Managers — both male and female — continue to favor men over equally qualified women in hiring, compensation, performance evaluation and promotion decisions. This limits opportunities for women and deprives organizations of valuable talent.
To solve this problem, business leaders, academics and journalists are working to raise awareness about bias. The assumption is that when people realize that biases are widespread, they will be more likely to overcome them. But new research suggests that if we’re not careful, making people aware of bias can backfire, leading them to discriminate more rather than lessSurvey results from the 2014 State of the CIO survey reflect that disappointing reality: Among the 558 total respondents, only 60 were female (or 10.7 percent). While that number is cause for concern, it's not surprising, says Melissa Woo, CIO at University of Oregon. Read full article...
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Scholarships for Women Studying Information Security (SWSIS)
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Through the 1980’s, CS@VT had 30%+ women enrolled in its undergraduate program. Many prominent researchers from underrepresented groups-including Lucy Nowell, Cheryl Seals, and Jamika Burge - emerged from VT’s graduate program. But, after the dot.com bust in 2001, enrollment in CS programs fell at Virgina Tech and nationwide, and diversity enrollment was hit harder. Now, thanks in part to the programs and resources described here, their diversity footprint is increasing again. Click to read more…
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IN THE NEWS - 2013
Missing From Science Class
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Despite this list of bad news for gender parity in the higher education CIO ranks, there might be positive change on the horizon. Click here to read more…
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IN THE NEWS - 2009
How To Increase the Number of Women in Tech
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