Girls In Tech

Great news for our members – we’ve partnered with Qtask, the developer of a unified collaboration and project management environment that increases productivity, and they will be the exclusive SaaS sponsor to our organization.

With the partnership, Qtask will provide its project management environment to the Girls in Tech staff and each of its 35 chapters globally, and will also be available to GIT members at a 20 percent discount. One of the primary goals in adopting Qtask is to streamline communications by moving away from a reliance on emails with attachments to a collaborative workspace that provides threaded discussions, file sharing and wikis. With Qtask’s support, we are currently implementing the system, which is helping to transform the way we get things done. Qualified Girls in Tech members can receive the discount by clicking on the Qtask banner under “Partners”, or email your chapter lead for more details.

We are thrilled about working with Qtask, and we’re even more excited about passing the benefits on to our fellow women in technology.

Tags: corporate sponsor, discount, girls in tech, Mel Bolton, qtask, saas
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In January, the White House brought the hammer down on salary discrimination – the first law signed by our new president provides workers greater latitude to sue their employers for unequal pay. While the Lilly Ledbetter Law is a step in the right direction, the sad fact is that women still have their back up against the glass ceiling, making 75.3 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn (US Census Bureau 2003). The new law doesn’t prevent employers from continuing the unequal pay practice, it just makes it easier for those who have been unfairly paid to seek recourse IF they can prove they did not make the same wages as coworkers in the same position with the same responsibilities. Not an easy feat when company salaries are kept hidden under lock and key.

While technology certainly operates differently than most industries, it is, unfortunately, not exempt – a recent survey by Dice.com found that women are paid 12 percent less than male counterparts. The survey also noted that these same women held lower ranking titles and had less education and experience than men. But, let’s face it, the technology field can be a hard nut to crack when you prefer skirts to khakis, and fewer women are seeking employment in the field for a myriad of reasons, pay notwithstanding.

However, President Obama’s signing the law does seem to underscore what we females have been sensing for some time – that 2009 is going to be a big year for women in all industries and especially in technology. The appointment of Carol Bartz set the tone early on, and the talk at conferences and seminars is that women from all sectors are poised to make a big impact within the tech workforce. And not just within established companies or Internet giants like Google and Yahoo, we have experienced the excitement from women working at small start-ups and looking to launch their own businesses – even with the recession, females are excited for what the future holds for them in the field. One woman at a recent Girls in Tech Mixer put it this way, “My bosses and colleagues have always said that gender didn’t matter, but I never felt completely like a real part of the team until I went above and beyond to prove my worth. Now I feel like the gap is closing to the point where the lip service is a reality: gender doesn’t matter.”

Not every woman has experienced gender discrimination in the workplace and not every woman has felt the need to prove they have what it takes to code side-by-side with their male co-workers, but gender inequality is not exclusive to salaries – women are frequently treated differently by male co-workers and supervisors which can affect team building and productivity. Women and men emote, intake and exchange information differently, so working in an industry where men outnumber women almost 5 to 1 can be somewhat daunting for females. This can affect overall output for a company or create unnecessary competition between women in an industry where they feel they are vying for the one “girl” spot.

Many women I talk to relate the same experiences of not being understood by their male counterparts or that their ideas are diminished or devalued. Case in point — at a recent industry event, I was speaking with a woman who was in the process of launching her own company in the Web 2.0 space. This woman has years of diversified experience in product, marketing and development but couldn’t get through a VC meeting without smirking glares, non-verbal indifference to her pitch and inappropriate questions from the other of the table. She came prepared to the meeting with a well thought-out business plan, a real revenue model and an eagerness to get started and received a lethargic response to her monetary request and a high level of doubt from her male counterparts in tech in return.

There are a lot of reasons behind the gender divide in technology, and we women shoulder part of this blame. One of the major reasons is that we don’t provide enough encouragement to young women who are interested in science and math careers to pursue their dreams. This goes back to the inherent differences in men and women – especially in fields where there are not as many prominent role models, young women need to feel empowered and encouraged that their interests will prove fruitful down the road. We need to provide a strong support system for everyone interested in technology, but specifically young women as empowering and mentoring them will positively impact their long-term careers as well as the industry as a whole. A little encouragement goes a long way, and I do believe that in 2009 and beyond, the number of women in technology will increase accordingly.

We still have strides to make to really set an even playing field for men and women in all industries, but having the Equal Pay Act as the first law signed by Obama and his historic administration truly underscores the feeling of the “Year of the Woman” for me. The optimism in the air is palpable, and I am truly looking forward to an exciting year where women continue to increase their exposure to and status within the technology industry.

Tags: Equality, Equality in the Workplace, girls in tech, Lilly Ledbetter, Mel Bolton, President Obama, technology, women in technology
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Last Wednesday was the start of Lent, and every year I give up something food or alcohol related. I am not religious per se, but it’s a nice way to test myself. This year, however, I pondered cutting the cord to my overly connected life. And I wasn’t the only one – there were a multitude of Facebook statuses and Twitter polls – even GeekSugar –asking people, regardless of their religion, what communications tools or technology would they give up if they had to.

This struck me – we are at a time where people are so addicted to mobile devices, laptop keyboards and 140 characters that we need an intervention to even consider separating ourselves from frantic typing and constant updating. The more tools we have available, the greater our need to communicate. We have taken all that is wonderful about the Internet to an extreme, and we have irrevocably changed our lives. There are few out there, and not a single Girl in Tech, that can easily separate themselves from their cell phone, inbox or social network of choice. We have become a world of multi-taskers, paying half attention to life around us with one eye on the screen and a finger affixed to our phone’s thumbwheel. While this has made us open up more of our lives and has arguably enabled us all to broaden our perspectives, does communicating more actually make us better as people?

Even more interesting, while we are reaching out more than ever and to people from all corners of the globe, we are retreating from actual verbal or face-to-face communication. Even with my improper technique, I can type faster than most, my finger hitting the return key like a cowgirl with a hair trigger. But, I also crave a good phone call or chat over coffee, the back-and-forth conversation complete with facial expressions and tangible emotions.

I had to do some serious soul-searching: what could I give up? Would it be lovely Twitter with it’s conversational @ replies and crowd pleasing RTs? Or my friend Facebook, the first site I open each morning, reading my friends and acquaintances status updates to get a pulse on the day ahead? Perhaps giving up one or all of my four email accounts? Or, gasp, my cell phone?

After careful consideration and much anguish, I decided that I just couldn’t do without any of them. Communicating is what I do best, whatever vehicle I use, and it’s just not something I can separate myself for 6 weeks. A short vacation maybe, but no extended breaks any time in the near future. I have given up wine instead.

Tags: communication, facebook, girls in tech, lent, Mel Bolton, mobile, twitter
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Girls in Tech headed to Palo Alto on Saturday to attend the Stanford Women in Business “Off the Street – A Woman’s Guide to Non-     Traditional Careers” conference. This was such a great opportunity to introduce Girls in Tech to the next generation of women in technology and encourage women looking to pursue careers in technology, especially given the current economic times, to follow their heart. We went in thinking it would be a good experience for the young women of Stanford; it turned out to be a fantastic event for us as well.

Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, keynoted the event and passed the audience the same, sage advice: do what you love. Cupcakes may not seem like high tech, but hey, a girl’s got to eat! (And, if you haven’t been fortunate enough to try one, do not pass go, go straight to a Sprinkles bakery near you. I recommend the Black and White. HEAVEN.)

During the address, Candace discussed her experience in founding and developing Sprinkles, which was the first-ever cupcake-only bakery. What we learned was that it’s not the industry that matters – her experience could have applied to a start-up anywhere. What was instrumental to her business was having a passion for what she was doing and putting a real stake in the ground for its success. At the end of the day, if you love what you do, success will come.

We are in many different industries and have different backgrounds, but, at Girls in Tech, we all love what we do. Many thanks to Stanford Women in Business for allowing us to share that passion with their members. Up next, Web 2.0!

Tags: "Lucia Giacomantonio", girls in tech, Megan Price, Mel Bolton, Stanford, technology, women in business, women in tech
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