In 1842, Ada Lovelace, known as the "enchantress of numbers," wrote the first computer program.
Fast-forward
171 years to October 15 (which happened to be Ada Lovelace Day, for
highlighting women in science, technology, engineering and math), and
computer programming is dominated by men. Women software developers earn
80% of what men with the same jobs earn. Just 18% of computer science
degrees are awarded to women, down from 37% in 1985. Fewer than 5% of
venture-backed tech start-ups are founded by women.
Those
statistics, released by Symantec, the security company, and the Anita
Borg Institute, which works to recruit and promote women in tech,
provide context for recent debates in Silicon Valley, like why Twitter
has no women on its board.
Given that girls
begin to shy away from computer science when they are young, because of a
lack of role models and encouragement from parents and teachers,
perhaps a short history lesson on Lovelace would be helpful.
She
was the daughter of Lord Byron, the poet, who split from her mother
shortly after her birth. Her mother encouraged her to pursue math to
counter her father's "dangerous poetic tendencies," according to the
University of California, San Diego.
Meanwhile,
in Silicon Valley, some people sense change in the air. "There's a lot
more focus than we've seen in the past, and a lot more hard
conversations," said Telle Whitney, chief executive of the Anita Borg
Institute . The Symantec and Anita Borg report tried to find a bright
side — the wage gap is smaller in technology and engineering than it is
in other fields, and the job opportunities are many.
Astia,
which offers programs for women tech entrepreneurs , announced on
Tuesday a partnership with Google to expand its lunch series for
introducing women founders to investors. And two scientists, sponsored
by Brown University, are hosting a mass Wikipedia editing session for
people to create and expand upon entries for women in science and
technology.
0 comments:
Post a Comment